SANDBURG’S CROWDS
Intro: Sandburg is fascinated by crowds/masses of people, and they way they make up a city.
Thesis: Sandburg uses each crowd he describes in order to emphasize a different facet of the Chicago community.
By ethnicity
Fish Crier (pg 7)—Jewish man – here he is singular, but he represents the mass of Jewish fish sellers—happy in his own ignorant way
The Shovel Man (pg 7)—Juxtaposition of shovel man working for almost no money to the dark-eyed woman who believes that the immigration to America was good for them
We need someone to love us to be worth anything in the world – either a group or an individual person that gives us affirmation
Picnic Boat (pg 8)—optimistic view of immigrants
Happiness (pg 8)—Crowd of Hungarians – Hungarians are a bit of red herring – they are indistinguishable; if you like somebody, you refer to them as a single person, but Sandburg gives this Hungarian crowd a distinguishing factor
Population Drifts (pg 13)—life beats the romanticism out of you: is it worth it?
Main points Sandburg brings up: Disillusionment with the American dream/immigration; optimistic view of happiness in profession and ethnic community
By labor
Halsted Street Car (pg 4)—calling upon cartoonists because the faces are almost caricatures of helpless workers
Working Girls (pg 14)—juxtaposition of romanticism; certain pride in the knowledge that accompanies being a “working girl”
To Certain Journeymen (pg 17)—all are equal in death
Ice Handler (pg 19-20)—repetitive and almost obnoxious facet of working in the ice industry is that the ice will melt—you will have good days and bad days on the job, and you will feel worthless, but you are not
Main points: Individuals represent the workers of their profession as a whole; you will toil but you have certain knowledge of the city and of the real world that you should take pride in
By the generalized “masses” in Chicago (labor + ethnicity)
Chicago (pg 1)—Sandburg is biased, proud of his city
Masses (pg 2)—poor don’t have to show off like the epic nature does, but it’s a beautiful mass all the same
The Walking Man of Rodin (pg 6)—The working men are the legs of Chicago and they’re the foundation of Chicago: the head is the faces, politicians and rich upper crust but you don’t really need that, you need the poor manual labor. Brings out dignity of not thinking, a non-intellectual life
Fellow Citizens (pg 20-21)—happiness of mayor and millionaire, who think they know happiness vs. the true happiness of an accordion player
Bronzes (pg 25)—Move from passive to active – as if they could get up and go tomorrow
Not such a bad thing for them to be bronzes either – we do need monuments – we need something that will last and will not fail like the rest of us
Skyscraper (pg 29-31)—idea of enduring monument
Main points brought up: Chicago is a city of endurance, exemplified by the monuments and skyscrapers—the poor people who you don’t give a second thought to actually shape the city
Conclusion: do the crowds shape Chicago, or does Chicago shape the crowds?
Answer: the crowds shape Chicago
