Survival

One of the prevalent themes of the book is survival. In the first part of the nineteenth century, people had to find ways to survive in order to live. These are the circumstances into which John D. Rockefeller was born. Once Rockefeller learned that his father was a bigamist, he did not want to be dependent on the man financially in any way and made up his mind to be financially independent and survive without financial help from his father. He quit high school, attended commercial college and found a job, making him financially independent.

Once John D. Rockefeller was in business, survival became business survival. The economy was basically unstable, with periodic busts and booms. As a result of mass production and technological advance, there was a great deal of overproduction. The result of this was falling prices, making it difficult for businesses to survive. Rockefeller understood...