The Armor of Light: A Novel

British society in the 17th century was built on a rigid class structure. In the simplest terms, the novel portrays this class distinction as between the “masters” and the “hands.” The masters own the mills and profit from their operation. The hands work in the mills to earn a wage, but their jobs are threatened by the arrival of the new machines and technology. The conflict between the masters and the hands is a distillation of the capitalist system of the era, a system that relies on worker exploitation to enrich the owners. The hands are subjected to tough working conditions with few rights in exchange for a wage which is barely enough to feed their families. In contrast, the masters live in manors and mansions, spending lavishly on themselves to reinforce the distinction between the classes. The result is that the working-class characters seek to challenge this rigid social structure. Class conflict prompts the hands to call for social reform. They form trade unions and educational societies, and eventually they go on strike, withholding their labor to show the extent to which the masters rely on them. They even smash up the machines and set fire to the mills when they become desperate, as the class conflict seems such an unwinnable war that the hands are willing to try anything to bring about a fairer, more just society. For many of the hands, class conflict dominates their lives.

For the masters, however, social reform threatens their privilege. While the hands can form trade unions and organize strikes, the masters have control over almost every social institution in the country. The members of Parliament who set the laws rely on the votes of the masters for their political power, while many of the wealthy people who might accept social reform have their business dealings threatened when they speak out in favor of reform. The result is that the tools at the disposal of the hands are quickly outlawed. Trade unions are made illegal, and Sal is sentenced to two months of hard labor after Hornbeam accuses her of conspiring against him to call a strike. The charges are flimsy, but Hornbeam’s political influence is enough to convict her. Sal’s traumatic experience of hard labor is a bitter reminder that the masters have many more tools at their disposal, allowing them to police the boundaries of permissible economic action. There is little Sal can do to change the rules of a society dominated by the wealthy. Even when the hands band together, they lack the institutional power of the masters. Class conflict is fought at every level of society, the novel suggests, with even institutions such as the church used to reinforce and bolster the rigid social structure in favor of the masters.

The Napoleonic Wars erupt over the course of the novel. The wars have their roots in the French Revolution, a period in history which involved the drastic upheaval of French society and the attempted abolition of class differences in France. In effect, the French Revolution is exactly the kind of radical social reform which the English masters fear, and they turn to nationalism to motivate working-class English people to risk their lives fighting the French. The war drags on for many years, raising prices for the poor while enriching the masters through corrupt government contracts. At the same time, anti-French propaganda spreads through Britain to discourage any kind of social reform. At least to some degree, however, the reactionary aims of the war backfire: The war produces so much social upheaval that it allows some individuals to break class barriers. Kit is made an officer, for example, even though he is from a working-class background, while the upper-class Roger is ranked lower than Kit. Ironically, the military that polices class conflict abroad is more of a meritocracy than Kingsbridge society. Joe Hornbeam returns from war with a more egalitarian outlook, fueled by Jarge’s heroism in sacrificing his life to save Joe’s. Joe’s experiences of war make him more sympathetic to social reform, as evidenced in his enlightening conversation with Spade before he agrees to take over the family business. The British may have defeated Napoleon but, in doing so, the military helps to spread many aspects of the same social reform so dreaded by the masters.