Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 17, 2023 June 10, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
A quote by Calvin Coolidge opens the chapter. It says that whoever builds a factory builds a temple.
From New York, Lefty and Desdemona take a train to Detroit. Dr. Philobosian caught an illness on the boat and didn't pass inspection. Desdemona is furious because she was not allowed to bring her silkworm eggs into the country.
Sourmelina meets them at the train station. She has reinvented herself as a modern American woman, dressed like a flapper. Sourmelina’s parents had arranged a marriage for her in America after she was caught in a compromising position with another woman. With a secret of her own, she’s happy to keep Lefty and Desdemona’s.
Lefty and Desdemona move in with Sourmelina and her husband, Jimmy Zizmo, who doesn’t realize she’s a lesbian. He expects the sala, or living room, to be the men’s domain only and the kitchen the women’s. He promises to help Lefty find a job through his connection to the personnel department manager at Ford Motors. When they go to talk to the manager, Zizmo slyly offers to drop special documents off at the manager’s home. The manager agrees to give Lefty a job.
Lefty begins working on the factory assembly line. After work, he attends the factory’s English school, where he repeats sentences about cleanliness. One day, after hearing a lecture on productivity, Lefty tries to work faster but gets sabotaged by his fellow workers. They tell him not to work fast or else everyone else suffers.One day, Lefty tells Desdemona that he needs her to make him a traditional Greek outfit for the English School’s graduation pageant.
On a Wednesday, inspectors from the Ford Sociological Department come to check on Lefty’s living conditions to make sure he’s living in accordance with their idea of American values. They don’t like that Lefty doesn’t own his own house and eats food with too much garlic. They give him a new toothbrush and instruct him on how to use it. Zizmo is insulted, and the inspectors warn Lefty that they will make a note of his relatives.
Please wait while we process your payment