--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He was staring off across the long broad…" description: "\"“He was staring off across the long broad fields, raising his eyes above the red clay soil to the horizon, looking across the fiery-red plains of Hell ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/jim-thompson-10572_steel-giants_he-was-staring-off-across-the-long-broad_3124833.jpg" --- # He was staring off across the long broad fields, raising… ![“He was staring off across the long broad fields, raising his eyes above the red clay soil to the horizon, looking across the fiery-red plains of Hell with its endless gauntlet of dead-brown imps---the cotton, the cotton, cotton, cotton---closing his eyes to them and seeing only the horizon and its…” quote by Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/jim-thompson-10572_steel-giants_he-was-staring-off-across-the-long-broad_3124833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/jim-thompson-10572_steel-giants_he-was-staring-off-across-the-long-broad_3124833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68e/jim-thompson-10572_steel-giants_he-was-staring-off-across-the-long-broad_3124833.jpg) > ““He was staring off across the long broad fields, raising his eyes above the red clay soil to the horizon, looking across the fiery-red plains of Hell with its endless gauntlet of dead-brown imps---the cotton, the cotton, cotton, cotton---closing his eyes to them and seeing only the horizon and its towering ranks of derricks. Steel giants, snorting and chuckling amongst themselves; sneering wonderingly at the cotton and the bent-backed pigmies admist it. Huffing and puffing and belching up gold.”” [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A man is overwhelmed by industrial exploitation and the harshness of his environment, seeing wealth and power as oppressive forces. **In simple terms:** Industrial greed overwhelms the individual. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist dehumanizing systems. Themes exploitation industrialization despair environment power resistance Mood cynical dark reflective Type literary critical descriptive When to use this quote - oil fields - factory work - urban decay - environmental protest - personal reflection Key Concepts capitalism alienation environmental degradation Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of modern industry feel oppressive to you? - How can you reclaim agency in a mechanized world? A Different Perspective The vivid metaphor may romanticize hardship, ignoring systemic solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [If you would see how interwoven it is in the warp and woof of civilization ... go at night-fall to the top of one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/if-you-would-see-how-interwoven-it-is-in-the-warp-and-woof-of/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) ## More by Jim Thompson > [“It was like being asleep when you were awake and awake when you were asleep. 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And I thought, god-dang,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/i-looked-at-her-with-her-hair-spilled-out-on-the-pillows-and-the/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [“He picked her up and tossed her on the bed. They had a hell of a time. But afterward, after she had gone back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/he-picked-her-up-and-tossed-her-on-the-bed-they-had-a-hell-of-a-time/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [Dad always said that he had enough trouble sorting the fiction out of so-called facts, without reading fiction. He always said that science was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/dad-always-said-that-he-had-enough-trouble-sorting-the-fiction-out-of/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [“if I wasn't a decent woman I'd heist a leg and pee in your ear until it washed out that stinking pile of crap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/if-i-wasn-t-a-decent-woman-i-d-heist-a-leg-and-pee-in-your-ear-until/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [“Anyone who deprived her of something she wanted deserved what he got.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/anyone-who-deprived-her-of-something-she-wanted-deserved-what-he-got/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [“He could be breaking apart inside and you'd never know it from the way he acted. 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And quivering with the movement of the train, the dead man seemed to laugh too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/then-he-laughed-and-she-laughed-and-quivering-with-the-movement-of/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) [Explore all 64 Jim Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) ## More Steel Giants quotes > [If you would see how interwoven it is in the warp and woof of civilization ... go at night-fall to the top of one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/if-you-would-see-how-interwoven-it-is-in-the-warp-and-woof-of/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) Browse all 2 Steel Giants quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He was staring off across the long broad fields, raising his eyes above the red clay soil to the horizon, looking across the fiery-red plains of Hell with its endless gauntlet of dead-brown imps---the cotton, the cotton, cotton, cotton---closing his eyes to them and seeing only the horizon and its towering ranks of derricks. 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