by Abigail Dodson

Created on: April 23, 2009   Last Updated: April 25, 2009

The Flivver King Analysis

The Automobile industry is one of the most popular and profitable industries in the American culture, however, it has not always been this way. "Horseless Carriages" like most things, started with one crazy idea and a leap of faith by Henry Ford, a bright young inventor in the 19th Century. Henry had a lot of bright ideas but an equal amount of failed attempts when creating the automobile. He worked tirelessly for days, months and years on end, throughout the peak of his life in his garage trying to find a way to make his dream a reality; for every advancement he made, there was a new problem but that did not stop Mr. Ford. He persevered and looked at each new problem as just another "challenge," he didn't let people's opinions stop him from trying to find an affordable more convenient way for the average American to get around. No one believed he would succeed at first except for a hand full who had seen what tremendous progress he made working by himself in the garage. People at that time thought the idea of a horseless carriage was absurd and unheard of, little did they know Henry's bright idea would only continue to improve throughout the years. In my opinion, Henry Ford was one of the most brilliant businessmen/inventors of the 19th century because he believed in mass marketing, in other words he believed that every person could find use with his invention not just wealthy upper class Americans.

When Henry Ford did become successful in creating the first running automobiles He became obsessed with ways to produce and sell them cheaper and new models to make. Abner Shutt really admired Henry Ford throughout most of his life and thought from the beginning that the idea of an automobile was brilliant. He knew from a very young age that he wanted to work with Henry Ford because they were neighbors and he saw the many failed attempts and still had faith in Mr. Ford. Abner's admiration for Henry Ford came at a very young age when he used to help him along with several other young boys push his car around and back to the garage because with the first automobile there was no reverse.

Abner Shutt had a great work ethic which probably came from being raised in the era he was. He was used to holding jobs that required long hours and low pay, and used to the feeling of hunger. Abner knew what it was truly like to need something, along with thousands of other poor American families at the time. Throughout the novel, it is apparent that that was

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