Summary
Summary of The Revolt of Mankind
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Huggs mistakes gifts for love
Huggs rules from a study filled with machines, beneath a glass dome. Each morning he kneels before the portrait of a dead woman, while his wife Bertha resents the love he gives that woman's son, Robert. His private devotion sits beside his immense public power.
When news comes that Robert is flying home with Union aircraft behind him, Huggs assumes surrender. He closes mines, distributes corn and opens theatres for the workers, treating gifts and holidays as proof that people will love him.
Key idea 2
Debt becomes a means of rule
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Key idea 3
Two sons unsettle their father's power
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Key idea 4
Robert refuses his father's plans
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Key idea 5
The workers choose a shared strike
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Key idea 6
Kindness comes with a condition
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Key idea 7
Economic power becomes a religion
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Key idea 8
Refusal can resist ownership
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who like stage drama with big ideas, family quarrels played out on a world scale, and stories about money, labour and conscience. It also suits anyone curious about early twentieth century visions of the future.
What this book is
What if one man owned the work, the bread and the hopes of everyone else? The Revolt of Mankind is a three-act play by the Finnish writer Lauri Haarla, set at the start of the third millennium. Its central figure is Huggs, a trust magnate who has bought so much of the earth that he can say he is the state. Around him stand a family torn apart by his power, a daughter who feels every disaster, and a son who cannot bear what he has seen. Let us begin in the tower where Huggs sits.
In this summary
- 1Huggs rules the world from his towerFree
- 2Power is bought, not held by states
- 3A rival son appears with a knife
- 4Robert comes home to accuse his father
- 5A strike chosen with clear heads
- 6Kindness, fire and the threat of war
- 7What the play argues and how it is built
Key point 1 of 7
Huggs rules the world from his tower
The play opens in a semicircular study with no windows and a glass dome for a ceiling. Huggs, a thin man of about fifty, kneels each morning before the painting of a young woman and scatters flowers on her altar. Then his wife Bertha walks in, bitter that all his love goes to Robert, the son of the woman in the painting.
The room is full of machines. A globe stands wrapped in a great serpent that bites its own tail. News comes that Robert, away for ten years, is flying home with a woman at his side and a fleet of Union aircraft behind him.
Huggs takes it for a surrender. He orders the mines closed, corn handed out and theatres opened for the workers. He is a ruler who thinks gifts and holidays are the same as being loved.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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How does Huggs gain power over nations?
Right. “Caesars took power with swords and emperors with gunpowder, but the trust magnate fights through business and buys everything from workers to whole seas.”Not quite. “Caesars took power with swords and emperors with gunpowder, but the trust magnate fights through business and buys everything from workers to whole seas.”
What response does Robert ask workers to make to the lockout?
Right. “He asks them to answer the lockout with a strike, a calm and shared sacrifice.”Not quite. “He asks them to answer the lockout with a strike, a calm and shared sacrifice.”
What condition does Huggs attach to his offer of money for the poor?
Right. “He offers Robert half his fortune for the poor, on one condition, that Robert swears to govern by his father's will.”Not quite. “He offers Robert half his fortune for the poor, on one condition, that Robert swears to govern by his father's will.”
Questions about The Revolt of Mankind
What is The Revolt of Mankind about?
It is a three-act play about Huggs, a trust magnate who owns the world's industry, and his son Robert, who refuses to inherit his power. A strike, a fire and the threat of world war drive the plot.
Who wrote The Revolt of Mankind?
Lauri Haarla, a Finnish poet and playwright who died in 1944, wrote it. The play is set at the start of the third millennium and imagines an age ruled by trusts.
Who is Huggs in The Revolt of Mankind?
Huggs is a trust magnate who has bought up most of the earth, so he claims to be the state. He prays before his dead love's portrait and wants Robert to rule after him.
What does the serpent biting its tail mean in the play?
The serpent coils around a globe in Huggs's study and on the butler's medal. It stands for his monopoly, which spreads until it meets itself, and for a system that can only feed on its own flesh.
Is The Revolt of Mankind easy to follow?
Yes, the story moves through short scenes with clear stakes, a family quarrel and a strike. Stage directions describe each setting vividly, and the characters are distinct, so the play is easy to picture.
