In poverty, hunger, and dirt

The tired and dehumanized woman in Hood’s poem is a clear illustration of what industrialized life does to a person. Between her harsh and seemingly endless ‘work-work-work’ she thinks fondly on the sky and flowers. However she only briefly enjoys this daydream as she must ‘stitch! stitch! stitch!’ Her meager mans barely allowing for her most basic necessities. This kind of life was described in Marx’s theory of alienation.  Simply put, alienation occurs in socially stratified societies as a direct result of workers being disconnected from their humanity as they are a simple part of a large machine. Hood’s worker lacks autonomy because she is directed and basically property of those who own the means of production. Beyond just being physically tired, it is draining on the soul. The ‘work-work-work’ pounds in the head and constantly interrupts the thoughts and feelings of Hood’s worker. When I read the poem I almost instantly thought of Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times” which deals with the dehumanizing nature of the capitalist mode of production. Below is just a short clip, however the film in its entirety is available on Youtube.