John Demont's Coal Black Heart

2170 Words9 Pages
A reflection on generations of coal mining ancestors enables John DeMont to help portray a sketch reflecting the global history of coal in Nova Scotia. From the beginning — approximately 300 million years ago, DeMont uses the perspectives of geologist’s views of Pangaea, to the examination of the late 20th century collapse of the provinces coal and steel industries. Through the explanation of events that took place between these periods of time, the stylistic language in Coal Black Heart presents vivid pictures in the readers mind. Due to DeMont’s literary choices he captivates one’s attention when describing the history of coal mining. By illuminating the coal mining settlements, employment concerns, harsh conditions, disease exposure and economic development that they coal miners and their families had to endure, DeMont rediscovers his family storyline, including the importance of coal to Nova Scotia.…show more content…
Coal Black Heart is organized in a way that the reader can understand the impacts coal had during different periods of times, and how those impacts quickly shifted from one extreme to another. The introduction of the novel provides a good background into the explanation of how a black rock changed a society and its people, “without coal, Nova Scotia might still be just a collection of farms and fishing villages. Without coal, the province’s people would lack their edge and urgency—their spirit forged by a flame that comes from betting everything, year after year, on the vagaries of a single community.” John DeMont structures the novels chapters in different points throughout history, starting with the initial development of coal, to the early explorations of men from Britain and France. The involvement of these regions during the 15th and 19th century is crucial to the coal miner’s story because of the

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