Rebecca Harding Davis Groping Through The Iron Mills

Groping Through the Factory: Parallels of Sexual and Industrial Oppression
Though producing iron ore may not immediately evoke thoughts of sexual exploitation, the two may be tied more closely when considered in tandem. In Rebecca Harding Davis’ Life in the Iron Mills, nuanced language laced with sexual connotations foregrounds the exploitive nature of capitalism.
Life in the Iron Mills tells the tale of two Welsh immigrants, Hugh and Deborah Wolfe, and in the process presents subtle suggestions regarding the oppressive and one-sided benefits of 19th century factory work. In considering this language of reluctant sexuality and its relationship to capitalism in the text, it is imperative to tease out the tennents of capitalism that create

the exploitation that Deborah and Hugh are implicitly lamenting. In the Marxist interpretation of the capitalist system, the means of production are controlled by an individual or a small faction, called the Capitalist. The labor force does not own the product which they are producing, and are instead leasing their manpower to the Capitalist in return for a wage. In Life in the Iron Mills, Hugh Wolfe represents the labor force, while his bosses at Kirby and John’s Mill own the means are production as well as the finished product, making them the Capitalists. Due to the close relationship between Hugh and Deborah, and his dependence on her for sustenance, as well as the coupling of the two in the narrative, Deborah may also be considered a proxy for the labor force in this story.
With this simplified working definition of the capitalist mode, it is possible to consider the language with which the laborers—Deborah and Hugh—are described within the text.

In the scene in which Deborah bring Hugh a pail of supper at the mill, Hugh invites her to stay with him there for the remainder of his shift, a request with which she obliged. He tells her, “Ye’re tired, poor lass! Bide here till I go. Lay down there on that heap of ash, and go to sleep” (Davis 9). This heap of ash Hugh is directing his cousin to lay on is a by-product of the iron making process. Deborah’s position on the unwanted remnants of the Capitalist’s spoils juxtaposes the laborer and the capitalist process in one setting. The narrator continues, “He threw her an old coat for a pillow, and turned to his work. The heap was the refuse of the burnt iron, and was not a hard bed; the half smothered warmth, too, penetrated her limbs, dulling her pain and cold shiver.” Again, the verb “penetrated” conjures up sexual imagery, though this sentence does more than just that. The ash, a proxy for capitalism, is simultaneously causing her pain and soothing it away. The warmth of the makeshift bed warms Deborah, though the reason she is cold is because she is in the factory. Without the factory, she would have neither the shivering, nor the remedy for her chills. This paradox is emblematic of the issue at the heart of the text. Industrial capitalism provides a living for those at the bottom of

the chain, yet it does not fulfill them well enough.
The word choices utilized in Life in the Iron Mills in their most literal sense do not inherently draw attention to the sexuality of the characters, though numerous times the double entandres and connotations of words do just that. One such instance that comes up regularly in the text is with the word “grope.” This first occurs when Deborah is cooking dinner, just before Janey knocks on her door to inquire about staying the night. “Deborah groped her way into the cellar…” (Davis 6). At the level of plot, she is simply feeling her surroundings in order to keep her footing. However, when considered in context with the rest of this paragraph, the subtext becomes illuminated. It is important to note that grope, as a verb, can mean simply to feel around in an entirely benign sense. There is nothing explicitly sexually about the term, however, it is often used to describe a non-reciprocated fondling of another person. This second and arguably more common definition sheds light on the subtle sexual implications of the passage at hand. Several sentences after the aforementioned line, Deborah’s bonnet is described as “hanging limp and wet over her face.” Further into the paragraph, the narrator says, “Perhaps the weak, flaccid wretch had some stimulant in her pale life to keep her up, --some love or hope, it might be, or urgent need” (Davis 6). This language of “hanging limp,” and a “flaccid wretch” needing stimulation suggests a clear sexual undertone to the text through phallic imagery that serves to highlight the lack of equality in the capitalist-worker relationship. This is made all the more evident when coupled with the earlier “groping,” suggesting a lack of explicit consent of sorts from Deborah, though the literal reading of the passage allows the point to be made that though it is not an entirely forcible assault, as perhaps stronger language of rape would have suggested, there is indeed a lack of engagement by Deborah in the process, which is made evident by word choice that is indicative of sexuality, yet emphasizes a lack of stimulation and participation.
The word “groping” appears numerous times in the text, invariably inserting a sexualized tone into the passage.

Following Deborah’s journey to the mill, the narrator rhetorically asks “Deeper yet if one could look, was there nothing worth reading in this wet, faded thing, half-covered with ashes? no story of a soul filled with groping passionate love, heroic unselfishness, fierce jealousy?” (Davis 9). The curious intertwining of industrial capitalism and sexuality continues into this line, as the ashes again represent the waste and unused scraps of the factory process, and the “groping” suggests a degree of unwillingness or discomfort from our proxy for the labor force--Deborah. The ashes covering her are smothering her in the oppression of industrial capitalism, and barring her from leading a truly “passionate”

life.
Deborah is not the only protagonist to be described using this curiously repetitive term, “grope.” Hugh Wolfe, the puddler at the mill who perhaps more than Deborah is a clear stand-in for the common industrial worker in this period, has this word attached to him as well. According to the narrator, “I want you to look back, as he does every day, at his birth in a vice, his starved infancy; to remember the heavy years he has groped through as boy and man, --the slow, heavy years of constant, hot work” (Davis 12). This sentence serves to foreground the struggle of Hugh, particularly as it pertains to labor. “Heavy years of constant, hot work” is used to describe his work in the mill, though he did not “work” his way there or “struggle” his way to his present state; he “groped through” years of hard work and anguish. Again, the frequency with which this word presents itself, as well as the varied situations, leaves little doubt that it is placed strategically to highlight the way in which industrial capitalism takes advantage of the laborer in order to force their hand into working in a broken system.
Sexual imagery in Life in the Iron Mills is an important mechanism for relaying this message of industrial capitalism’s faults, because it creates a deeply personal and nearly universally relatable of struggle that transcends class or social status. The reader is able to connect not solely on a level of logic or economic reasoning, but on an emotion tier that allows for greater empathy. The lack of stimulation and control over their bodies and lives suggested by the language in the text works to illuminate the often hidden oppression and maltreatment of workers in the industrial capitalist system, and provide a mechanism by which it can be widely understood and internalized.