FREE ESSAY ON THE KILLING FLOOR

THE KILLING FLOOR

The Killing Floor
Frank Custer leaves his young family in rural Mississippi in pursuit of industrial
employment in the northern "Promised Land" of Chicago, Illinois. Little did he know about
the true extent of the journey he was about to embark on. Initially a move to secure work
and improve upon the conditions which surrounded him and his family; Frank was about to
change more in his life then just his economical status. 
Immediately upon arriving in the bustling city, Frank and his close friend Thomas
gravitate towards other working class African-Americans with similar backgrounds. Unable
to read or write, the two men enlist the aide of their local YMCA in finding jobs at a
local meat packing plant. Frank's first encounters at the packinghouse set the tone for
what is to entail. Racial tensions combined with aggressions concerning class associated
positions boil just barely beneath the surface on the "killing floor."
Conditions at the meatpacking plant are considerably less then favorable. The hours are
long, the work is backbreaking, and the position in which he works does not pay very
well. However, Frank's compensation for these conditions are his relationships with the
other men whom he lives near and works around. Spending his evenings playing cards and
talking with the men introduces Frank to more then just a little relaxation; issues about
politics, race relations, and especially the "white man's union" dominate the colorful
conversations. During this time I'm amazed at how Frank refuses to let himself get
dragged into blindly believing the popular opinions in which his peers hold. He lives an
honest life and pursues in finding the whole story beneath the surface of the current
topics. 
Frank consistently demonstrates that he will not settle with "keeping his place" as is
expected of him. It appears as if the people he encounters from day to day are trying to
keep segregation and the "Old South" alive. His peers along with members of the community
are dissatisfied with the decisions and alliances with which Frank is making. They feel
that the strides he is taking to improve himself i.e., saving money and purchasing a
butcher knife, exhibiting real enthusiasm in learning the tricks of new trades, and
joining the "white man's union", are unnecessary and a blatant demonstration of selling
out to the white community. 
I find myself amazed at how persistent Frank is throughout the course of these events.
When he loses his job with the packinghouse and the union can not do anything about it,
he still maintains union ties and beliefs, and perseveres in finding a new job. His love
and concern for the welfare of his family proved more important then the relationships he
is building with other men in the neighborhood. Going against popular opinions to reach
for a goal is something that takes a lot of courage to do. He never gives up, re-securing
his old job at the packinghouse Frank immediately goes to work on recruiting new migrants
from the South into the union. When trouble brews with fellows he works hand in hand
with, Frank turns the other cheek because he knows it will do no good to fight them at
that moment, it's better to wait and pick his battles. 
From the moment Frank stepped off of the freight train and landed in the Promised Land,
his life took a dramatic change. Originally in search of employment and a better life for
his family, Frank found much more. Through adversity, loss of friendships, and
unpopularity Frank discovered what it was like to be American, something that wasn't
afforded to him as a descendant of slaves residing in the "Old South" of Mississippi.