329-2012--Week 10 -- Extra Online Questions

While I do not know much about coal mining towns and the industry in the 1920s, (the only movie I've ever seen on coal mining was October Sky with Jake Gyllenhall) This movie and the readings were very similar. For instance, the first reading that discussed how young boys would spend their lives working in the mines and the conditions they faced were very similar in Matewan. The young boy who was a preacher, Danny, was about 14-15 and he worked in the mines and witnessed the entire struggle between the union men and the corporate men. The scene when Hilliard got caught at night by the corporate men showed that how dangerous those times were and also revealed the names of the men that died in the mines when they asked Hilliard for 5 union men names. He gave them the names of the men that passed away in the mines because of certain accidents. I finally understood the "lost cause" reference that Dr. McClurken used because in the end, so many people died including Cunningham and unfortunately nothing was resolved. --Aqsa Z.