Original Text(~250 words)
CHAPTER XXXVI. UNION NOT ALWAYS STRENGTH. “The steps of the bearers, heavy and slow, The sobs of the mourners, deep and low.” SHELLEY. At the time arranged the previous day, they set out on their walk to see Nicholas Higgins and his daughter. They both were reminded of their recent loss, by a strange kind of shyness in their new habiliments, and in the fact that it was the first time, for many weeks, that they had deliberately gone out together. They drew very close to each other in unspoken sympathy. Nicholas was sitting by the fire-side in his accustomed corner; but he had not his accustomed pipe. He was leaning his head upon his hand, his arm resting on his knee. He did not get up when he saw them, though Margaret could read the welcome in his eye. “Sit ye down, sit ye down. Fire’s welly out,” said he, giving it a vigorous poke, as if to turn attention away from himself. He was rather disorderly, to be sure, with a black unshaven beard of several days’ growth, making his pale face look yet paler, and a jacket which would have been all the better for patching. “We thought we should have a good chance of finding you, just after dinner-time,” said Margaret. “We have had our sorrows too, since we saw you,” said Mr. Hale. “Ay, ay. Sorrows is more plentiful than dinners just now; I reckon, my dinner hour stretches all o’er the day; yo’re pretty...
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Summary
Margaret and her father visit Nicholas Higgins, who is unemployed because he refuses to sign a pledge denouncing union support—a new requirement at the mills. Higgins explains his unwavering loyalty to the union, comparing it to a plow that must crush individual daisies for the greater harvest. When Margaret challenges him about forcing John Boucher into the union against his will, Higgins dismisses her concerns, calling Boucher a traitor who tried to get work by promising to betray union secrets. Their heated discussion is interrupted by a grim procession: Boucher's body, found drowned in a brook. The sight devastates Higgins, who cannot face telling Boucher's wife. Margaret takes on this terrible task, gently revealing to the widow that her husband is dead. The woman's grief is compounded by the reality of being left alone with six young children. As Margaret comforts the family, Higgins locks himself away, unable to face the consequences of his rigid principles. The chapter powerfully illustrates how ideological purity can become destructive when it loses sight of individual humanity. Boucher's suicide represents the tragic cost of being caught between competing forces—rejected by employers for his union activities, yet never truly accepted by union members who forced his participation. Margaret's compassionate response contrasts sharply with Higgins's inability to confront the human wreckage of his convictions.
That's what happens. To understand what the author is really doing—and to discuss this chapter with confidence—keep reading.
Terms to Know
Union pledge
A formal promise workers had to sign renouncing support for labor unions in order to get or keep employment. Mill owners used these pledges to break union power by forcing workers to choose between their jobs and their solidarity.
Modern Usage:
Like non-compete clauses or loyalty oaths that companies use today to control what employees can do or say about working conditions.
Blacklisting
When employers share lists of workers who supported unions or caused 'trouble,' making it impossible for those workers to find jobs anywhere in the industry. It was a coordinated punishment system across multiple companies.
Modern Usage:
Similar to how bad references or industry reputation can follow someone from job to job, or how social media posts can affect employment prospects.
Scab labor
Workers who cross picket lines or work during strikes, often called traitors by union members. These workers were desperate for income but seen as undermining collective bargaining power.
Modern Usage:
Like temp workers brought in during strikes, or anyone who breaks group solidarity for personal gain during workplace conflicts.
Class solidarity
The idea that working people should stick together against owners and bosses, even when it costs them individually. It requires sacrificing personal immediate needs for the group's long-term power.
Modern Usage:
Shows up in movements like Fight for $15, where workers across different companies unite, or when employees collectively refuse overtime to protest conditions.
Industrial paternalism
When factory owners acted like stern fathers to their workers, claiming to know what was best for them while controlling their lives and limiting their choices. It mixed genuine care with authoritarian control.
Modern Usage:
Like companies that offer great benefits but monitor everything employees do, or bosses who say they're 'like family' while paying poorly.
Ideological purity
Sticking rigidly to principles even when they cause harm to real people. It values being 'right' according to theory over adapting to human complexity and individual circumstances.
Modern Usage:
Seen in political movements or workplace policies that won't bend their rules even when those rules hurt the very people they claim to help.
Characters in This Chapter
Nicholas Higgins
Union loyalist
Refuses to sign the anti-union pledge even though it means unemployment and poverty. His rigid commitment to union principles blinds him to the human cost of forcing others like Boucher to participate against their will.
Modern Equivalent:
The activist who won't compromise on principles even when it hurts people they claim to represent
Margaret Hale
Compassionate mediator
Challenges Higgins about forcing Boucher into the union, then steps up to comfort Boucher's widow when Higgins can't face the consequences of his actions. She bridges the gap between principles and human need.
Modern Equivalent:
The coworker who calls out toxic behavior but still helps clean up the mess
John Boucher
Tragic victim
Caught between union pressure and employer demands, he drowns himself when he can't find a way forward. His death represents the human cost of ideological conflicts that ignore individual circumstances.
Modern Equivalent:
The person crushed between competing workplace demands who sees no way out
Boucher's widow
Collateral damage
Left alone with six children after her husband's suicide, she represents the innocent victims of larger conflicts. Her grief is compounded by practical terror about survival.
Modern Equivalent:
The single parent left to pick up the pieces after workplace politics destroy their family's stability
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when commitment to a cause becomes so absolute that it loses sight of individual human cost.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you dismiss someone's concerns because they don't align with your values, and ask yourself whose humanity you might be overlooking.
You have the foundation. Now let's look closer.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Sorrows is more plentiful than dinners just now"
Context: Greeting Margaret and her father while unemployed and hungry
Shows how economic hardship creates a bitter worldview where suffering becomes more common than basic necessities. Higgins's dark humor masks his desperation while maintaining his dignity.
In Today's Words:
There's more bad news than food around here lately
"The union is to be a great machine, and the men that's in it must be as the parts of the machine"
Context: Explaining why individual concerns don't matter to the union cause
Reveals how Higgins sees people as expendable parts in a larger system. This mechanistic thinking allows him to justify forcing Boucher's participation while ignoring the human cost.
In Today's Words:
The organization is like a machine, and people in it are just replaceable parts
"He were always a weak kind of chap, were Boucher"
Context: Dismissing Boucher's concerns about union participation
Shows Higgins's inability to see strength in different forms. He mistakes Boucher's concern for his family as weakness rather than recognizing it as a different kind of courage and responsibility.
In Today's Words:
He was always too soft for this kind of thing
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Righteous Blindness
When commitment to principles becomes so absolute that we stop seeing the humanity of those who don't perfectly align with our cause.
Thematic Threads
Ideological Purity
In This Chapter
Higgins refuses to compromise his union principles even when it means unemployment and contributes to Boucher's desperation
Development
Evolved from earlier chapters showing Higgins as reasonable union supporter to rigid ideologue
In Your Life:
You might recognize this when you find yourself cutting off family members over political disagreements or refusing to work with colleagues who don't share your exact values
Human Cost of Principles
In This Chapter
Boucher's suicide represents the deadly price of being caught between competing rigid systems
Development
Building from previous chapters showing workers trapped between mill owners and union demands
In Your Life:
This appears when workplace policies or family rules create impossible situations where people suffer for the sake of maintaining principles
Compassionate Action
In This Chapter
Margaret takes on the terrible task of telling Boucher's wife about his death when Higgins cannot face it
Development
Continues Margaret's pattern of stepping up when others retreat into ideology or self-protection
In Your Life:
You see this when someone needs to deliver bad news or provide comfort while others hide behind rules or roles
Moral Courage vs Moral Cowardice
In This Chapter
Higgins locks himself away rather than face the consequences of his rigid stance, while Margaret confronts the grief directly
Development
Deepens the contrast between Margaret's growth in moral courage and others' retreat from difficult truths
In Your Life:
This shows up when you have to choose between admitting your approach caused harm or doubling down to protect your ego
Modern Adaptation
When Loyalty Costs Too Much
Following Margaret's story...
Margaret visits Nick, a veteran warehouse worker blacklisted for refusing to sign a non-compete clause that would prevent him from advising other workers about their rights. Nick defends his choice with fierce pride, comparing the labor movement to a necessary force that sometimes crushes individuals for the greater good. When Margaret questions his role in pressuring Jake, a desperate father of six, to join a work slowdown that got him fired, Nick dismisses her concerns, calling Jake a 'scab' who tried to get rehired by promising to report on union activities. Their argument is interrupted by devastating news: Jake's body was found in his garage, carbon monoxide poisoning. Nick retreats into his apartment, unable to face Jake's widow. Margaret drives to the family's trailer park, gently telling the woman that her husband is gone. As she helps with funeral arrangements and connects the family with social services, Margaret sees how Nick's righteous certainty blinded him to Jake's desperation. The man who fought so hard for workers' dignity couldn't see the worker right in front of him drowning.
The Road
The road Higgins walked in 1854, Margaret walks today. The pattern is identical: when our cause becomes more important than the people it's meant to serve, we stop seeing individual humanity.
The Map
This chapter provides the navigation tool of checking your convictions against real human cost. Margaret learns to ask: 'Am I serving the principle, or is the principle serving people?'
Amplification
Before reading this, Margaret might have assumed good intentions automatically lead to good outcomes. Now she can NAME righteous blindness, PREDICT when ideology becomes destructive, and NAVIGATE by choosing compassion over being right.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What choice does Nicholas Higgins make when offered work, and what does this cost him and others?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does Higgins dismiss Boucher's desperation as betrayal rather than seeing it as a father's fear for his family?
analysis • medium - 3
Where have you seen people become so committed to being 'right' about something that they stopped seeing the human cost?
application • medium - 4
How do you recognize when your own principles are helping people versus just making you feel superior?
application • deep - 5
What does Margaret's willingness to comfort Boucher's widow teach us about choosing compassion over being right?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Spot Your Blind Spots
Think of a strong belief or principle you hold—about work, family, politics, or life. Write it down, then imagine someone you care about is struggling with a situation where following your principle would hurt them. What would you tell them? Notice if your first instinct is to defend the principle or help the person.
Consider:
- •Pay attention to whether you're thinking about the person's actual situation or just defending your viewpoint
- •Notice if you find yourself making the person wrong for not seeing things your way
- •Consider whether your principle serves people or whether you serve the principle
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when being 'right' about something cost you a relationship or caused someone pain. What would you do differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 37: Pride and Desperate Measures
The coming pages reveal pride can both protect dignity and create barriers to help, and teach us understanding different life circumstances prevents harmful advice. These discoveries help us navigate similar situations in our own lives.