Do you think the strike improved conditions at the mine? Why do you think Fenna's father stayed when so many others left?

As the book opens, Fenna's father, a miner, is on strike. Do you think the action improved conditions at all? Why do you think he stayed at the mine, when so many others left for other employment?

Only marginally. It seemed like conditions were pretty much unchanged.

I think he stayed on because that's what people generally DID back then. Most people stayed with their employer for their entire lives. My father, grandfather, uncle... they all remained with their original employer for at least a quarter century. That seldom happens these days.

I also think he stayed because he was a depressed, traumatized person. Who became an alcoholic to manage his depression, and then was trapped.

I think the strike mostly did not improve conditions for workers in the mine. The workers didn't have opportunities to get other jobs, and at the time, jobs were hard to come by. I think Fenna's father knew he had to provide for his daughter, and didn't have much choice...It would be depressing!! He lost his wife and a child so tragically, that it seemed no surprise that he would turn to alcohol .

There weren't a lot of jobs available so the company had the upper hand in any negotiations with the union workers. They knew when people and their families got hungry, they'd return to work no matter what the working conditions were for them.

I don't think the conditions improved. I think Fenna's Dad was more rooted to the place because of his connection to his wife dying there and that he had Fenna to take care of. He probably also had cultural and language barriers that kept him from moving.

No the strike did not improve the working conditions or the safety of the miners. The owners of the mines, really owned every bit of the workers' lives. My grandfather was a coal miner in PA and the miners lived in houses they rented from the owners of the mine. The material for their work clothes had to be bought at the owner's shops and then my grandmother made the overalls. He couldn't leave, there was no other job for him to go to. Like Jenna's dad, he was just learning the language and the customs.