At the other end, we have workers in the coal and iron trades demanding wages varying with employers' profits. The first represents the transition from serfdom to wagedom; the second the transition from wagedom to freedom.

A major reform is needed to improve the efficiency in the factory.

The works reflect the inventive point of view Mr. Coupland brings to his writing, like an installation he created in the entry hall by placing, on a ledged wall, pieces of various shapes and colors taken from vintage building kits, or the oversize detergent bottle in the hallway, his own work, titled appropriately, “Downy Fabric Softener.”

And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.