The Disinherited
 Monkey Nest Camp The Disinherited is heard through the voice of Larry Donovan, a young boy, growing up in the Monkey Nest coal mine camp. It is a difficult life, and after Larry’s brother Dan starts working in the mines, Larry’s father prods Larry to do well in school so he too won’t have to go into the mines. Larry makes many observations about the differences between miner families and other families, especially farmer Ben Haskins and his daughter Bonny Fern. Larry throws a dirt clod at Bonny Fern’s head one day and the next tries to give her a flower. She calls him “camp trash” and Ben chases Larry away. Larry also distinguishes differences between the miners themselves. His father and his father’s friend, “Frenchy” are both educated. So is Lionel Stafford, but Larry’s father doesn’t get along with Mr. Stafford. Lionel flaunts his education whereas Larry’s father does not. One day the mine owner, Edward Stacpoole, comes to the mine with his wife and son. The son pushes Larry’s sister, Madge, into a mud puddle and taunts her. Dan is hurt in a mining accident and dies three days later. Frenchy also dies in a separate mining accident. The camp miner’s go on strike, and Larry’s father meets unsuccessfully with Mr. Stacpoole to negotiate. One night during a storm a scab knocks on the Donovan’s door seeking shelter. Tom punches the scab in the mouth and sends him away. Tom tells his children never to become scabs. Eventually, the miners go back to work. Aunt Jessie comes to take Larry to the house of a dead man; she asks Larry if Rollie Weems ever talks about her. Larry says that he does but plays innocent. At the dead man’s house, Aunt Jessie forces Larry to touch the man’s face. Afterwards, Larry suffers nightmares about the dead man. Larry’s father takes a more dangerous job within the mine in order to make more money to pay for Larry’s schooling. However, there is an accident while Mike Riordan and Tom are in the mine. Larry’s father dies, and without an income Mother begins to take in others’ laundry. One of Mother’s customers is the butcher’s wife, Mrs. Koch, who is very particular about her laundry. Larry stains a load of her clothing and Mother takes the blame. Rollie Weems leaves town after rumors start that he got Mattie Perkins pregnant. Mike Riordan, who had disappeared following Tom’s funeral, reappears and periodically leaves groceries on the Donovan’s porch. When the mine goes on strike again, the superintendent approaches Mother about cooking for the strikebreakers; Mother refuses on principle. Rollie Weems returns to say he has gotten work at a railroad; since Larry is of working age now, Rollie recommends that Larry get a job at the railroad also. Bull Market Larry starts going to night school and also gets a job at the railroad, where he becomes friends with Ed Warren. Ed introduces Larry to Wilma and Larry has his first experience with sex, which he reacts to with disgust. American involvement with World War I begins. Rollie Weems enlists and marries Aunt Jessie before going on tour. A baby is born to the newlyweds while he is France. A man speaks in the town square denouncing war and capitalism. Lionel Stafford joins in and the crowd attacks the two men, beating them very badly. Afterwards the Stafford’s leave town defeated. During this time Madge dies. Ed enlists after making several attempts to join the army. Larry stays away from the war he calls “cruel.” Ed sends Bonny Fern letters, and she approaches Larry to ask about Ed. When the soldiers return from war, the railroad goes on strike. Ed returns and moves to Detroit with the Haskins. Rollie emerges as a leader in the strike. During a conversation between him and Larry, he propounds the advantages of staying single. Larry listens and seems to remember Rollie’s advice throughout the narrative. One evening, Rollie starts a fight with a strikebreaker and is shot. He tells Larry to pretend the fight hadn’t happened. Rollie crashes his car into a streetlight and dies. After Rollie’s death, Larry gets a job at a steel mill which begins a series, throughout the novel, of Larry getting and losing jobs. At the steel mill, Larry meets several people, including an old man the workers call “Bun” Grady. Grady is homeless and unable to get many jobs because of his age. Larry rooms at the home of Nat Moore. Nat’s wife Lena is sickly and often places Larry in uncomfortable situations. Larry finds a job at the rubber plant and meets Hans, a German worker, and Jasper, a prankster of sorts. Larry dates Helen, the lunch girl. Larry receives many letters from Ed in Detroit encouraging him to move to Detroit. Ed finally accepts the offer, along with Jasper and Nat, after Lena dies. Nat has also been remarried to Emma, his former cleaning lady, though he plans to send for her after he gets a job. Larry rooms with the Haskins and gets a job at the auto factory. Bonny Fern now takes college classes and Larry takes note of how the classes and the city have affected her. She influences him in the proletarian movement. Getting word that Helen is in Detroit, Larry follows her to a whorehouse that is disguised as a lunch counter. He requests Helen who has become a prostitute. She shares her feelings about him, and mildly drunk, Larry reacts oddly. There is a scene and Larry is thrown out. Nat has sent for his family and has bought a plot of land to build a house on. However he doesn’t yet have enough money to build. In the meantime, he begins making homebrew which upsets Emma. Bonny Fern also expresses disgust when Larry drinks. The Hard Winter The Stock Market crashes and men from the auto factory are laid off. Ed and Larry bounce from job to job. The Haskins decide to go back to the farm, though the decision distresses Bonny Fern. After being gone for some time, Bonny Fern sends Larry a letter detailing his mother’s poor living conditions. Larry and Ed buy a car and head to Monkey Nest Camp. The car is a clunker, and the boys must get jobs to pay for repairs. When they reach the camp, they find Mother, Aunt Jessie, and the kids nearly starved and living in Liam Ryan’s old barroom. Larry is shocked at the physical degeneration of his once pretty Aunt Jessie and his mother. After fixing a leaky roof and buying the family groceries, Ed and Larry look for work. While lying pipeline they meet a half-wit who they deduce to be Willy Stafford. It seems his once uppity older brother, Paul Stafford, has been buried alive working in the pipeline ditch. Bonny Fern is friendly with Larry but he recalls again the advice of Rollie and keeps his distance. In conversation, Mother tells Larry to be a fighter like his father was. Nat and his family show up, as does Hans. Ben Haskin’s farm is repossessed and is set to be sold piece by piece in an auction. Well-meaning farmers come to the auction and refuse to bid. Hans and a sheriff get involved. Eventually one farmer sells the farm and goods back to Ben Haskins for 99 cents. Larry decides to go West with Hans. Mother and Bonny Fern wave good-bye as the Moore family, Hans, Ed, and Larry drive off.