--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was piecework, and she was apt to have…" description: "\"“It was piecework, and she was apt to have a family to keep alive; and stern and ruthless economic laws had arranged it that she could only do this by ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/upton-sinclair-4341_family_it-was-piecework-and-she-was-apt-to-have_1386125.png" --- # It was piecework, and she was apt to have a family to keep… ![“It was piecework, and she was apt to have a family to keep alive; and stern and ruthless economic laws had arranged it that she could only do this by working just as she did, with all her soul upon her work, and with never an instant for a glance at the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who came…” quote by Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/upton-sinclair-4341_family_it-was-piecework-and-she-was-apt-to-have_1386125.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/upton-sinclair-4341_family_it-was-piecework-and-she-was-apt-to-have_1386125.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/upton-sinclair-4341_family_it-was-piecework-and-she-was-apt-to-have_1386125.png) > ““It was piecework, and she was apt to have a family to keep alive; and stern and ruthless economic laws had arranged it that she could only do this by working just as she did, with all her soul upon her work, and with never an instant for a glance at the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who came to stare at her, as at some wild beast in a menagerie.”” [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage depicts a worker forced by harsh economic forces to labor intensely, with no time for leisure or social interaction, likening her to a captive animal. **In simple terms:** Economic pressure forces relentless work, stripping humanity. Key Takeaway Recognize and address exploitative labor conditions. Themes labor exploitation economic hardship dehumanization survival industrialization Mood somber critical Type literary social critique When to use this quote - factory work - immigrant life - poverty - social reform Key Concepts Capitalism alienation Questions to Reflect On - What systems keep workers trapped? - How can dignity be restored? A Different Perspective It may ignore personal agency and resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Ladies and gentlemen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ladies-and-gentlemen/) [Menagerie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/menagerie/) [Wild beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wild-beast/) ## Related quotes > [Each man's soul is a menagerie where Conscience, the animal-tamer, lives with a collection of wild beasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/each-man-s-soul-is-a-menagerie-where-conscience-the-animal-tamer/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [“In the evening I came home and read about the Messina earthquake, and how the relief ships arrived, and the wretched survivors crowded down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/in-the-evening-i-came-home-and-read-about-the-messina-earthquake-and/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“...and the wild beast rose up within him and screamed, as it had screamed in the Jungle from the dawn of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/and-the-wild-beast-rose-up-within-him-and-screamed-as-it-had-screamed/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [A frightening menagerie, my emotions are Too many and varied to number Like creatures they crawl and they fly above Tearing my body asunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/a-frightening-menagerie-my-emotions-are-too-many-and-varied-to-number/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > […he began to speak to me, not in the jocular way of visitors to the menagerie but rather as one speaks to the wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/he-began-to-speak-to-me-not-in-the-jocular-way-of-visitors-to-the/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter, and none of those instincts are given much play at the warehouse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/man-is-by-instinct-a-lover-a-hunter-a-fighter-and-none-of-those/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Profit is the sole criterion used by the establishment to evaluate economic activity. From the rat race to lame ducks. The vocabulary in vogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-reid/profit-is-the-sole-criterion-used-by-the-establishment-to-evaluate/) [Jimmy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-reid/) > [Some people have family crests, lions, tigers, unicorns, elephants - a whole menagerie - and if my family had a crest, you know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-berg/some-people-have-family-crests-lions-tigers-unicorns-elephants-a/) [Gertrude Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-berg/) > [As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-there-is-something-beyond-i-shall-2/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [The problem with growing up in a cafe was the cafe never closed, my parents worked every day of the year from morning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-minghella/the-problem-with-growing-up-in-a-cafe-was-the-cafe-never-closed-my/) [Anthony Minghella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-minghella/) > [Girls that aren't cut out for business careers usually wind up married to some nice man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/girls-that-aren-t-cut-out-for-business-careers-usually-wind-up/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/as-far-as-history-goes-i-am-dead-if-there-is-something-beyond-i-shall/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“Once upon a time, a girl went to see a monster menagerie where all the exhibits were dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/once-upon-a-time-a-girl-went-to-see-a-monster-menagerie-where-all-the/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [I'd like to one day play Amanda, the mother, in The Glass Menagerie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernadette-peters/i-d-like-to-one-day-play-amanda-the-mother-in-the-glass-menagerie/) [Bernadette Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernadette-peters/) > [People go to the movies instead of moving. Hollywood characters are supposed to have all the adventures for everybody in America, while everybody in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/people-go-to-the-movies-instead-of-moving-hollywood-characters-are/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) ## More by Upton Sinclair > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [You don't have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it. 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So America was a place of which lovers and young people dreamed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/in-that-country-rich-or-poor-a-man-was-free-so-america-was-a-place-of/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“Study and think and improve your mind, and keep it clear of all this fog of hatred and propaganda”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/study-and-think-and-improve-your-mind-and-keep-it-clear-of-all-this/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-private-control-of-credit-is-the-modern-form-of-slavery/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“When one comes to the ultra-modern profession of advertising," responded Schliemann—"the science of persuading people to buy what they do not want—he is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/when-one-comes-to-the-ultra-modern-profession-of-advertising/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) [Explore all 112 Upton Sinclair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) ## More Family quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. 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"But I can't go live with him, because him and his hot girlfriend are going off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/so-jace-is-my-actual-family-kit-said-but-i-can-t-go-live-with-him/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/i-have-friends-and-family-that-identify-as-lgbtq/) [Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [It's not just that families can't buy a home or start a business without some savings tucked away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cooper/it-s-not-just-that-families-can-t-buy-a-home-or-start-a-business/) [Jim Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cooper/) > [“She knew how to play him so very well. He slipped his hand around hers. "Friends," he repeated roughly. Her smile was bright enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-smith/she-knew-how-to-play-him-so-very-well-he-slipped-his-hand-around-hers/) [Kathryn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-smith/) > [As a family, we all loved the Flyers. To me, rooting for the Flyers were how I bonded with my dad especially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-f-goldberg/as-a-family-we-all-loved-the-flyers-to-me-rooting-for-the-flyers-were/) [Adam F. Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-f-goldberg/) > [The people have always been family to me here in Las Vegas. 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