Life in the Iron Mills

I had a rough time getting into the "Life in the Iron-Mills" text for today. The beginning seemed very slow to me. I think it is mostly in part because the narrator spent so much time telling the reader that he was going to tell a story before he actually started to tell it. One thing that I noticed in the first few pages of an almost introduction was the narrators use of words. For example, I found it interesting on his word choices like muddy, dirty, dark, fog, clammy, and then the words used moset often, drunk (or some form of the word). I think that these words do a marvelous job of setting the scene for the readers. The narrator wants us to know that the places he is about to describe are not places of happiness or joy, but of dampness and darkness. And my favorite part in the introduction, " A dirty canary chirps desolately in a cage beside me. Its dream of green fields and sunshine is a very old dream--almost worn out I think." (Davis, 40). I think the canary may also exemplify the feelings of the workers.

Once I got into the text it picked up quite nicely, but I think not knowing some of the background may have confused me in a few areas. However, one of the most interesting parts in this text is:
"His soul within him was smothering to death; he wanted so much , thought so much, and knew--nothing. There was nothing of which he was certain, except the mill and things there... His brain greedy, dwarfed, full of thwarted energy and unused powers, questioned these men and women going by, coldly, bitterly, that night. Was it not his right to live as they, --a pure life, a good, true-hearted life, full of beauty and kind words? (Davis, 62).
To me this is saying that Hugh wants to be equal to the upper class. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think he wants to actually be a part of the upper class because he says that he didn't know much, only that of the mill and the things there and I think that was his only "safety and comfort" but he does not understandwhy he did not have the "right" to live as people of a higher class.