In the poem \u201cWe Grow Out of Iron,\u201d Aleksei Gastev preached for socialist revolution rooted and cultivated in Russian factories. Gastev targeted the audience of factory workers in 1918 by relating the strength of the revolutionary cause to steel beams that support the factory. The steel represents in many ways the relationship between the workers and the revolution. The magnitude and strength of the steel factory structure Gastev described in the poem translated to his vision of some sort of labor revolution. His poem also represented an effort to give context of the socialist movement by tailoring his message to specific social class of people by relating the revolutionary message to their lifestyle.<\/p>\n
But, Gastev\u2019s message seems hazy because of\u00a0some of his word choices. Throughout the poem, he narrates with the first person singular \u201cI\u201d rather than \u201cwe.\u201d This implies to the reader an individual or singular effort. Even though factory workers at the time could probably resonate with the poem\u2019s message regardless the phrasing, it is still noticeable. But, the first person \u201cI\u201d could of contradicted the principle of socialism to some, which is an emphasis on the mission and identity of a collective group of people rather than the individual. Gastev concluded his poem with the line \u201cvictory shall be ours!\u201d[1]<\/a> The switch from \u201cI\u201d to \u201cwe\u201d represents a connection between the individual and the whole. Why was the poem phrased in the \u201cI\u201d person if it was intending to promote socialism? Were the efforts to make socialism accessible and achievable for Russian revolutionaries tarnishing the goal of Marx\u2019s vision of socialism?<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Aleksei Gastev, \u201cWe Grow Out of Iron,\u201d (1918).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the poem \u201cWe Grow Out of Iron,\u201d Aleksei Gastev preached for socialist revolution rooted and cultivated in Russian factories. Gastev targeted the audience of factory workers in 1918 by relating the strength of the revolutionary cause to steel beams … Continue reading