History Literature / TheIronHeel

* BourgeoisBohemian: Professor Cunningham and his friends start out this way. They have progressive opinions but no strong political affiliations, and their dinner parties where they discuss the politics and current events of the day are mainly just entertainment for them. That changes when they invite Ernest Everhardt to dinner one night: he opens their eyes to threat of the rising Oligarchy and the plight of the average working man...and Cunningham's daughter Avis starts to fall in love with him.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: There are good people and sadistic monsters on both sides of the conflict.

* BourgeoisBohemian: Professor Cunningham and his friends start out this way. They have progressive opinions but no strong political affiliations, and their dinner parties where they discuss the politics and current events of the day are mainly just entertainment for them. That changes when they invite Ernest Everhardt to dinner one night: he opens their eyes to threat of the rising Oligarchy and the misery of the common people...and Cunningham's daughter Avis starts to fall in love with him.

* BourgeoisBohemian: Professor Cunningham and his friends start out this way. They have progressive opinions but no strong political affiliations, and their dinner parties where they discuss the politics and current events of the day are mainly just entertainment for them. That changes when they invite Ernest Everhardt to dinner one night: he opens their eyes to the problems of the day and the rise of the Oligarchy...and Cunningham's daughter Avis starts to fall in love with him.

* HumiliationConga: The Iron Heel's favorite tactic to discredit their enemies. Avis's father suffers one when he tries to speak out against them. First a cabal-controlled newspaper takes one of his remarks out of context and uses it to paint him as a dangerous revolutionary. Then the university is, ahem, "persuaded" to dismiss him from his post. And finally his house is taken from him, due to foreclosure on a mortgage that ''doesn't even exist.'' The joke turns out to be on the Iron Heel, though, because the Professor actually finds the loss of everything to be liberating, and he manages to carve a somewhat happy existence out of his remaining years.

* NightmareFuel: the siege of Chicago. London describes it in nauseating detail, from the heaps of mangled bodies that actually ''block the streets,'' to Avis's encounter with the rioting workers who barely seem ''human'' after years of grueling and degrading work and being worked up into a murderous rage by the Oligarchs.

* HarsherInHindsight: London's nightmarish vision for the future has been, for the most part, averted. But as is Science Fiction is wont to be, the story is eerily prescient on a few things: like [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne a European war in the 1910s]] that the US gets drawn into. Or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot a cabal of powerful businessmen]] trying to take over the government.

* HarsherInHindsight: London's nightmarish vision for the future has been, for the most part, averted. But as is Science Fiction is wont to do, the story is eerily prescient on a few things: like [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne a European war in the 1910s]] that the US gets drawn into. Or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot a cabal of powerful businessmen]] trying to take over the government.

* BittersweetEnding / DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Avis's manuscript ends chronicling the failure of the First Revolt and the fall of Chicago. But she holds out hope that the Second Revolt they're planning will succeed. Meredith, speaking from some seven hundred years in the future, notes that the Second Revolt ''fails completely,'' and the Iron Heel holds sway for centuries to come.]]

* FootnoteFever: Avis Everhardt's narrative is frequently broken by footnotes written by Meredith, relating a historical anecdote or explaining something for his audience. And Meredith is an extremely condescending person from a more "advanced" time, so some of them are actually pretty funny in a dark way. He frequently translates early 20th-Century slang for the benefit of the 27th-Century reader (even though London's audience knows exactly what the characters are saying). Oh, and apparently they don't have Mexican food in the future.

* HumiliationConga: The Iron Heel's favorite tactic to discredit their enemies. Avis's father suffers one when he tries to speak out against them. First a cabal-controlled newspaper misquotes him and paints him as a dangerous revolutionary. Then the university is, ahem, "persuaded" to dismiss him from his post. And finally his house is taken from him, due to foreclosure on a mortgage that ''doesn't even exist.'' The joke turns out to be on the Iron Heel, though, because the Professor actually finds the loss of everything to be liberating, and he manages to carve a somewhat happy existence out of his remaining years.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: How the Iron Heel maintains order. As the regime evolves they develop into their own social caste.
* SpoiledSweet: Avis starts out this way, the privileged daughter of a renowned scientist and scholar. Her relationship with Ernest exposes her to the plight of the poor and humble, and leads her away from her privileged life.
* TheMole: Extensive use by both sides in the conflict.

* UnreliableNarrator: Meredith calls Avis Everhardt this, but he's charitable enough to admit that she wasn't a trained historian, and she couldn't possibly know the long-term consequences of the events she was witnessing first-hand. [[ValuesDissonance And also that she's just a woman]].

* UnreliableNarrator: Meredith calls Avis Everhardt this, but he's charitable enough to admit that she wasn't a trained historian, and she couldn't possibly know the long-term consequences of the events she was witnessing first-hand. [[ValuesDissonance And also that she's just a woman]].

* FantasticCasteSystem: The Iron Heel develops a rigid class system: the owners on top, then the mercenaries, then the "Favored Unions," and at the bottom the huge population of workers.

* NightmareFuel: the siege of Chicago. London describes it in nauseating detail, from the heaps of mangled bodies that actually ''block the streets,'' to Avis's encounter with the rioting workers who barely seem ''human'' as they kill and destroy wantonly.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: While working with Ernest in the early days, Avis discovers that the bulk of the people working for the Iron Heel aren't bad people at all; they're just hopefully ensnared in a vast machine that they are powerless to affect, and all they want to do is be able to feed their families.

The bulk of the novel takes place within a FramingDevice, in the form of a historical text written in the far-flung year of 419 BOM (Brotherhood Of Man). The text is an analysis of recently-discovered "Everhardt Manuscript," a lost chronicle of the tumultuous years between 1912 and 1932, when the so-called "Iron Heel" was first consolidating its power. The Iron Heel was a powerful cabal of industrialists that rose to prominence in the early years of the 20th Century, eventually growing so powerful that they managed to take over the government of the United States, squeeze the Middle Class into extinction, and turn the bulk of the population into overworked slaves in all-but-name. In its early days the Iron Heel was opposed by a radical group led by the visionary thinker Ernest Everhardt, and later by his wife Avis, the actual author of the Everhardt Manuscript. Through the Manuscript we learn how the Iron Heel rose to power, first in the United States and later throughout the world, what measures they took to maintain that power (it ain't pretty), and what Everhardt and his allies did to try and resist them. [[spoiler: Thanks to the FramingDevice, however, we readers know from the start that Everhardt's rebellion fails, and that the Iron Heel endures for centuries after his death.]]

The bulk of the novel takes place within a FramingDevice, in the form of a presentation by a historian in the far-flung year of 419 BOM (Brotherhood Of Man). The presentation is an analysis of recently-discovered "Everhardt Manuscript," a lost chronicle of the tumultuous years between 1912 and 1932, when the so-called "Iron Heel" was first consolidating its power. The Iron Heel was a powerful cabal of industrialists that rose to prominence in the early years of the 20th Century, eventually growing so powerful that they managed to take over the government of the United States, squeeze the Middle Class into extinction, and turn the bulk of the population into overworked slaves in all-but-name. In its early days the Iron Heel was opposed by a radical group led by the visionary thinker Ernest Everhardt, and later by his wife Avis, the actual author of the Everhardt Manuscript. Through the Manuscript we learn how the Iron Heel rose to power, first in the United States and later throughout the world, what measures they took to maintain that power (it ain't pretty), and what Everhardt and his allies did to try and resist them. [[spoiler: Thanks to the FramingDevice, however, we readers know from the start that Everhardt's rebellion fails, and that the Iron Heel endures for centuries after his death.]]

The bulk of the novel takes place within a FramingDevice, in the form of a presentation by a historian in the far-flung year of 419 BOM (Brotherhood Of Man). The presentation is an analysis of recently-discovered "Everhardt Manuscript," a lost chronicle of the tumultuous years between 1912 and 1932, when the so-called "Iron Heel" was first consolidating its power. The Iron Heel was a powerful cabal of industrialists that rose to prominence in the early years of the 20th Century, eventually growing so powerful that they managed to take over the government of the United States, squeeze the Middle Class into extinction, and turn the bulk of the population into overworked slaves in all-but-name. In its early days the Iron Heel was opposed by a radical group led by the visionary thinker Ernest Everhardt, and later by his wife Avis, the actual author of the Everhardt Manuscript. Through the Manuscript we learn how the Iron Heel rose to power, first in the United States and later throughout the world, what measures they took to maintain that power (it ain't pretty), and what Everhardt and his allies did to try and resist them. [[spoiler: Due to the existence of the FramingDevice, however, we readers know from the start that Everhardt's rebellion fails, and that the Iron Heel endures for centuries after his death.]]

Well, it turns out London set the stage for Dystopian Sci-Fi, singlehandedly creating most of the Tropes we've now come to recognize as standard for the genre. Informed by the politics of UsefulNotes/TheGildedAge and by London's personal political views, ''The Iron Heel'' was meant to be something of a cautionary tale, a warning of what could happen if things were allowed to continue as they were. As such the novel can seem somewhat dry and preachy, and frankly, many of the Tropes he invented [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny have been done much better since 1908]].

Well, it turns out London set the stage for Future Dystopia Sci-Fi, singlehandedly creating most of the Tropes we've now come to recognize as standard for the genre. Informed by the politics of UsefulNotes/TheGildedAge and by London's personal political views, ''The Iron Heel'' was meant to be something of a cautionary tale, a warning of what could happen if things were allowed to continue as they were. As such the novel can seem somewhat dry and preachy, and frankly, many of the Tropes he invented [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny have been done much better since 1908]].

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis

* DefectorFromDecadence: Many members of the Resistance are young members of the ruling class who've grown disillusioned with the Iron Heel.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: The Iron Heel crushes the First Revolt first by using double-agents to draw all the Revolutionaries to Chicago. Then they stir up a city-wide riot that gives them the pretense to have the Mercenaries basically wipe Chicago from the map. Avis and Ernest barely make it out alive.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: London's nightmarish future was, for the most part, averted. But as is Science Fiction is wont to do, the story was eerily prescient on a few things: like [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne a European war in the 1910s]] that the US gets drawn into. Or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot a cabal of powerful businessmen]] trying to take over the government.

* NightmareFuel: the siege of Chicago. London describes it in nauseating details, from the heaps of mangled bodies that actually ''block the streets,'' to Avis's encounter with the rioting workers who barely seem ''human'' as they kill and destroy wantonly.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

* BittersweetEnding / DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Avis's manuscript ends chronicling the failure of the First Revolt and the fall of Chicago. But she holds out hope that the Second Revolt they're planning will succeed. Meredith, speaking from some four centuries in the future, notes that the Second Revolt ''fails completely,'' and the Iron Heel holds sway for many more years to come.]]

* BittersweetEnding / DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Avis's manuscript ends chronicling the failure of the First Revolt and the fall of Chicago. But she holds out hope that the Second Revolt they're planning with succeed. Meredith, speaking from some four centuries in the future, notes that the Second Revolt ''fails completely,'' and the Iron Heel holds sway for many more years to come.]]