In the market

Poverty in this story has taken a talented, responsible young man and restricted his ability to live to his full potential. Hugh is a talented man, he could have been a great artist, but his class and his inability to rise above his birth, have left him with few choices. Even the rich men in the story recognize Hugh's talent, but they are unwilling to do anything to help him because helping this young man out of poverty could very well leave them tarnished, change their class and leave them no better off than Hugh. It is for these reasons that poverty is a theme of "Life in the Iron Mills."