Asking the Obvious
"It's a new begining, but by her sights it hasn't been paid for yet. There's some blood to be paid. John Henry spilled his, for the railroad, for his fellow workers, for Talcott and Hinton. Where will this weekend's come from?" (363)
Well, we know and we don't. We know some journalists end up dead, but we don't know which ones. I don't think there's any point in me speculating here on which ones died, or if J. was one of them, because there are going to be a thousand different opinions...I'm just going to comment on the blogs of other people who discuss that particular point. heh.
The question I'd like to ask here, pertaining to this quote, is why? Why is the price of progress life? To answer that, we need to look at what these stories are deeming progress. Several subplots are going on here, a few competitions, but the main two that keep coming up are Man vs. Machine and Black vs White.
The Man vs Machine scenario brings up a rather obvious answer. The reason blood is the price for this kind of progress, is we have to make room for the steam engines of our time. Some are willing to step aside for the sake of progress. Some aren't. Those who aren't are basically forcibly removed by the stronger force. How does one "remove" human beings who want to be immobile? Well, that's when some blood is involved.
The question of race brings us much the same answer. Some people are willing to integrate the races, accept the fact we're equal. Some aren't. Two different views, both sides considering themselves the side of Progress, and that is where blood is involved here.
With the Man versus Machine, there is also the struggle with those who have no skill: their only skill has been taken by machines. They don't fight the machines, but they no longer have a job where they can make money. Their blood isn't spilt, but their bloodline doesn't continue. The cost here also equals life.