I think Gaskell explains the class systems in the Victorian period very well in North and South. The characters that represent each class stay within their system they were born into and on the rare occasion they rise above. Thornton was the odd exception to this rule, being a man who made his own fortune. I love that Gaskell put in a character like him because it changes how people today see the class system back then. The majority knows how the system works and that it was nearly impossible to move class ranks, but it was capable. Thornton to me was a light of hope in the beginning, being the strong man he is, but he lost his business from a lack of understanding the wealth in people. His workers were the reason his mill kept afloat, and when he replaced them with the Irish the failure was on his hands. Those hands were his skilled workers not just mindless bums off the street. The workers are the ones with all the true power, not the master. I don’t believe labor unions are the most efficient solution for corrupt masters; further education is the solution. Gaskell doesn’t reveal this as being a solution, but her books were educating the upper class. Furthering knowledge to all people will only continue to raise a society. Cheers to Gaskell!!!