53 pages • 1 hour read
Michael McGerrA Fierce Discontent
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Battles and Battlefields
Though McGerr employs it as more of a metaphor than a symbol or motif, the image of battles and battlefields plays an important role in giving readers a sense of exactly what progressive reform efforts felt like during the Progressive Era. Middle-class reformers were not picking up rifles and swords and charging across a physical battlefield to fight an enemy, of course, but the amount of work and struggle it took for reformers to change values and behaviors in people and groups who did not want to be changed was—to McGerr—similar to the struggle of a physical battle. The “battlefield” for reformers was the social, political, and financial landscape of America; the “quintessential battles,” as McGerr calls them, were “to change other people; to end class conflict; to control big business; and to segregate society” (23). To win these battles, progressive reformers knew that they would have to convince individuals, the majority of different classes, businessmen, and the federal government that the middle-class vision for America was best for everyone.
Passing their reforms required intense analysis and strategizing: another feature of the middle-class reform effort similar to a material battle. Though the middle class felt that their vision for society was in everyone’s best interest, there were often individual groups—like big business owners or the wealthy—who were more interested in the wellbeing of their individual group or class rather than making changes or sacrifices for the wellbeing of society as a whole. To convince people with different values and desires to support middle-class reform, reformers had to persuade, cajole, and sometimes use force. They quickly learned that the federal government, with its power to change laws and policies and sanction middle-class reforms, was a powerful ally on the “battlefield.”
The battle metaphor also highlights the intensity of the conflict around the turn-of-the-century that roiled beneath the surface—and sometimes exploded at the surface—of the progressive effort to change America. An obvious similarity between progressive reform efforts and a real battle was the hostility and occasional violence that resulted from progressive reform efforts.
Boundaries and Divisions
Middle-class reformers’ awareness of deep divisions in American society ultimately motivated them to advance their movement at the turn-of-the-century. They first observed divisions between the working class and the wealthy class, and felt the pressure of this division, being somewhat stuck in the middle between the feelings and experiences of the two polarized classes.
When McGerr refers to “divisions,” he is talking about a sense of unrest and misunderstanding—a lack of harmony and unity between the working class and the wealthy class. The divisions to which McGerr refers, however, were not just emotional and ideological; they were also material and physical. The working class and the wealthy class lived, worked, and socialized in different physical spaces and had little reason to venture into each other’s parts of the world. In fact, to see a working class person in a wealthy area could arouse suspicion or concern among the wealthy class. Conversely, to see a person from the wealthy class in a working class neighborhood might cause speculation that the wealthy person was up to no good and perhaps pursuing some sort of vice.
Middle-class progressive reformers like Jane Addams and her contemporaries crossed social and physical boundaries to put their reform efforts into action. Addams actively crossed the boundaries in urban Chicago to spend time in immigrant neighborhoods, to learn about the conditions of their lives, and to deliver resources, emotional and intellectual support and encouragement, and social services. Carry A. Nation, the pious Christian woman who passionately opposed the existence of saloons and availability of liquor, crossed gender-based boundaries by entering saloons and bars—men’s spaces of leisure—to make grand statements about the vice she so abhorred.
Though they crossed boundaries to learn how to mend the divisions observed in society, middle class reformers concluded that constructing new social and political boundaries that reflected their middle class values would ultimately mend the divisions between the classes. Social and racial segregation is the clearest example of progressives’ efforts to put boundaries in place that would keep everyone safe, satisfied, and compliant with the social order in America.
Unfortunately, these new boundaries did not function in the way that progressives thought they would. In fact, some of the boundaries—like those put in place by Jim Crow laws—caused existent divisions to widen even further. Many Americans began crossing the boundaries set by progressive reform in an effort to claim their rights, express dissatisfaction, or pursue new heights of freedom and prosperity. The life of African-American boxer Jack Johnson and the rebellion against discriminatory white policemen of African-American Richard Hays are key examples of the ways that the boundaries put in place by progressive reforms ultimately failed to bring overarching order and harmony to American society.
Open Space
Around the turn of the 20th century, progressive reformers succeeded in regulating much of American life— by raising new boundaries often supported by federal laws and policies. The reaction to the overwhelming presence of boundaries was the pursuit of space.
In the early 20th century, many Americans began to realize that the rapid growth of industrialized society had resulted in the development of a largely confining and constricting culture. As work opportunities and availability of resources increased in urban areas, these areas became increasingly crowded and stifling. Western exploration and expansion boomed throughout the period and Americans’ sense of endless space became squelched. The federal government increasingly intervened into business practices, people’s incomes and wealth, the workday and work conditions, behavior of children and adolescents, and the pursuit of pleasure, resulting in Americans’ feeling as though their entire existences were regulated.
Some Americans—like author Sherwood Anderson and architect Frank Lloyd Wright—felt that it necessary to rediscover the open space that existed inside every American and was being held prisoner by the restrictions of progressive life. To balance out the intense sense of collectivism toward which progressives oriented society, Anderson and Wright insisted that there was still a place for the individual in society. Individuals should nurture their inner intellectual life and pursuit of personal pleasures and leisure.
Many technological innovations during the early 20th century reflected and supported Americans’ reinvigorated desire for space and mobility. The invention of the automobile and airplane allowed many Americans to cross boundaries they had never before been able to cross, to travel to new places, and experience a new kind of freedom.
Other inventions allowed Americans to explore and expand their internal, intellectual space. Having access to motion pictures and photos from around the globe in newspapers and magazines introduced Americans to new cultures, ideas, and values, and enabled them to see the world and their own lives from new perspectives.
