'The Common Lot' by Robert Herrick follows the story of a self-made man, Powers Jackson, who leaves behind a small inheritance to his favored nephew and chooses to allocate the bulk of his fortune towards building a technical school for working-class boys. By doing so, Jackson hopes to avoid creating entitled heirs and to continue his own legacy of hard work and determination. This novel explores themes of wealth, inheritance, and the struggles of the working-class in America during the turn of the 20th century.
