In coming to America in the 19th and 20th centuries, women were an important part of settling down and making a new life here. Although women played a meaningful role, they were not attributed with the purpose they served. Of the men who came to the United States and brought along their wives, they refused to see the significance in the work that their wives did, and the importance they had in making it here. .
Among these men who were less than satisfied with their wives, was Kracha, from Out of this Furnace, a novel by Thomas Bell. Kracha was unappreciative of his wife Elena's loyalty to him. Elena ran the household, bore him children, raised those children, and supported every endeavor he wished to pursue, yet Kracha only seen these as duties that every woman should perform. Kracha was also ignorant to the fact that without Elena there, he probably would not have been successful at all. Aside from being unappreciated by their husbands, life for women in the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States was far from fun and certainly far from easy. .
"It wasn't all Elena's fault, he would say. She had to work hard, cooking, washing, scrubbing; and what pleasure did she ever get? Women had a hard time of it, Dubik said. Put yourself in her place. How would you like to live her life, eh? Elena was no worse off than any other woman in camp." (22).
This passage from Out of this Furnace portrays the opinion of Dubik, Kracha's friend. It becomes evident as one reads this novel, that the women of this time were the homemakers and nothing else. Dubik also states that every other woman was in the same position as Elena and although she had it rough, she was no worse off. .
Although the work, obedience and loyalty of the women of this time went unappreciated most of the time, they had an important purpose. To keep the house clean and live-able, keep boarders, raise children, and support their husbands, among many other things.