The Theme of Industrialization: 'The Great Towns' and 'A Living Wage for Factory Girls at Crewe'
             'The Great Towns' written by Friedrich Engels, and 'A Living Wage for Factory Girls at Crewe' written by Ada Nield Chew both present the theme of industrialization clearly. Presence of the theme, both authors meaning and point of writing, and underlying ideas will be examined in this paper. As Engels takes his readers on a journey through the streets of Manchester, the distinct separation between classes, the appalling living conditions of the working class, and many other details of the effects of industrialization are made remarkably clear. In Chew's 'A Living Wage...' (A letter written to the Crewe Chronicle regarding working conditions in a tailor factory), the theme of industrialization is carried through by her description of the circumstances "factory girls" were susceptible to, and her plea for a remedy to the evils they were suffering from.
             "...It is here that the effects of industrialization on the wage earners can be most clearly seen."(Engels, p.1703) As Engels walks the streets of Manchester he describes the socio-economically divided houses and streets of the working class districts. He writes particularly about the district near the River Irk, a depository for adjacent sewers and privies as well as filth, both liquid and solid, as the area with the worst courts, whose dwellings are unquestionably the most dreadful he has ever seen. He refers to the effects of industrialization as a source of 'human suffering', and claims it has inflicted upon its victims 'inadequate facilities for satisfying the most natural daily needs'(Engels, p.1709). Engels words make these unimaginable surroundings come to life in the minds of his readers.
             "Who reaps the benefit of our toil?" (Chew, p.1718) Chew takes on the theme of in...