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Pelle the Conqueror (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)

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Pelle Karlsson, a poor lad who becomes a shoemaker. He becomes interested in the labor movement and the shoemakers’ union, rising to become president of the shoemakers. He and his fellow workers live in difficult times. Pelle finds his livelihood cut off; his wife alienates him by becoming a prostitute in order to feed their two children; and he is unjustly convicted of being a counterfeiter. Pelle studies the labor movement and decides that factories will do away with the shoemaker who works by hand. He and Mr. Brun, a librarian, start a cooperative shoe...

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