Final answer:
Machinery in Chapter 7 represents a relentless industrial system controlling workers' lives, reflecting both the rise in productivity and the dehumanization of labor during the Industrial Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Chapter 7, machinery plays a critical role in symbolizing the transformation of the labor force and the intense, uninterrupted nature of work during the Industrial Revolution. To Chief, machinery represents the oppressive system that governs the lives of workers – a system that is relentless and dehumanizing.
The description of machinery depicts it as all-encompassing and ever-present, not just in the physical sense, but also in how it restructures society and labor. The unsleeping engines and the fiery pools of metal reflect the forceful and perpetual motion of industrial machinery which translates into the continuous labor expected from workers.
The machinery also signifies the mechanized efficiency that replaces human craftsmanship and reduces workers to mere cogs in the industrial machine. Chief sees this as an embodiment of the loss of individuality and the subjugation of workers under a hierarchical system of control, where the bourgeois manufacturer exercises despotic power.
The passage suggests that machinery, while enhancing productivity and driving economic growth, also brings about social upheaval, and pits the benefits of mechanization against the harms, echoing common themes of the Industrial Revolution such as coerced labor, social reform, and the debate on mechanization.