Oil bean

Jump to navigation Jump to oil bean This article is about the Upton Sinclair novel. 27 and told as a third-person narrative, with only the opening pages written in the first person.

The main character is James Arnold Ross Jr. Bunny, son of an oil tycoon. Bunny’s sympathetic feelings toward oilfield workers and socialists provoke arguments with his father throughout the story. The novel served as a loose inspiration for the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. Paul Watkins, a farmer’s son who runs away from home, is tutored by a free thinker, and becomes an advocate for the rights of laborers.

After spending time in Siberia after World War I, he sympathizes with Bolshevism and becomes a Communist. Vernon Roscoe, Dad’s business partner, and arguably the novel’s antagonist. He is a greedy businessman who helps bribe the government to acquire the land in Teapot Dome to drill oil. He also works to crush the unions that oppose him by bribing the authorities to throw its members into jail.

Alberta “Bertie” Ross, Bunny’s older sister and an aspiring socialite. Aunt Emma, Bunny’s aunt, widow of J. Ruth Watkins, Paul’s younger sister, who is Bunny’s age. Eli Watkins, Paul’s brother, who becomes an evangelical preacher. James Arnold “Dad” Ross and his son, James Jr.