The Apostate by Jack London. Short summary

5 seconds

Twelve-year-old Johnny’s family is very poor. Mother and son work in a weaving factory. An inspecting inspector praises the boy and transfers him to a more responsible job in a glass factory.

1 minute

Early in the morning, his mother wakes Johnny up. Since they lived far from the factory, they had to get up early. The family is poor, and the characters barely have enough money for food. After the factory horn sounds, mother and son run to their place of work.

Johnny takes a seat in a long row of machines. He had to wind jute thread from small bobbins onto larger ones. The work was not difficult and required only dexterity.

Johnny worked diligently, and the foreman often made an example of him. His mother gave birth to Johnny right in the weaving shop 12 years ago. An inspector comes to the weaving shop. He declared that Johnny had rickets and that the boy might die.

The teenager was transferred to a more responsible and hard work at the glass factory. After a while, his cough intensified. One day he got pneumonia and lost his job.