The Flivver King: A Story of Ford-America

Abner is physically somewhat frail:

He was rather thin, his shoulders somewhat bowed, and his mouth was a little crooked and had two large teeth in front, like a squirrel’s. But he grew a fair moustache like his father, and he had honest grey eyes and a kind disposition. He was, and remained, what the church people called a ‘good moral boy’ (14).

He is also honest and sober, which compels Ford to grant his request for a job: “He was young, and his eyes were clear, bearing out his statement that he did not drink. Likewise his hands, and the clothing he wore, supported his claim to having worked hard. There was something honest and simple about his face” (24).

Abner is not good at thinking for himself and is deeply invested in the idea that the US is a meritocracy, where hard work and fidelity are bound to bring one success. Even though he confronts evidence against this idea over and over in The Flivver King, and is badly exploited and abused by his employer, Abner’s fidelity to Ford never wavers.

Abner reads the papers and shares the average American’s terror of Communism and labor organizers. However, when Abner hears what labor activists have to say, he finds that he agrees with much of it.