Joe Hill as the rebel archetype

Most of us know a story about a rebel;  someone who singlehandedly takes on an entire army and either dies for the cause or gets away with it. Jesus, of course, comes to mind even though the major religions downplay his rebel side because the establishment does not want its followers to be rebellious. But there are other archetypal rebels we remember. I think about Joan of Arc, the French farm girl who led her countrymen into battle.  Andreas Hofer who was a Tyrollean rebel fought for freedom against Napoleon’s occupation. He is remembered in the famous song, In Mantua Im Banden. There is the Greek female rebel, Laskarina, who successfully fought the Ottoman Empire in 1771 and in my own country I remember the stories about Gøngehøvdingen, a Danish rebel fighting the Swedish occupying army back in 1658. 

All of these men or women have something in common with Joe Hill. They were led by the archetype to greatness through personal dedication and suffering. Joe Hill was a farm boy from Sweden, born in 1879, who escaped hunger and misery by emigrating to America with his brother Poul in 1902. His original name was Joel Emanuel Hillstroem, but he chose to call himself Joseph, and later in the States, just Joe Hill. As a laborer, he traveled around doing all sorts of odd jobs. He discovered a talent for poetry and songwriting and soon became involved in the labor movement. He was wrongfully sentenced to death in Salt Lake City in 1915:  the trial and his execution by firing squad turned him into a folk hero. It should be mentioned here that Utah is the only state in the US where the firing squad is still used to kill people sentenced to death. 

Songs were written about Joe Hill. Earl Robinson’s song, I Dreamt I saw Joe Hill Last Night is still a galvanizing labor song where the energy of the archetype comes to life, transforms people’s hearts and transcends the minds of the masses. This is especially true in this verse in the song:

                                                                                    From San Diego up to Maine

In every mine and mill

Where workers strike and organize

Says he, You'll find Joe Hill

Says he, You'll find Joe Hill

It’s a connection to the biblical saying of Jesus in Matthew 18:20. Wherever two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them. Even the trial against Joe Hill seems to mirror the story of Jesus in that Joe refuse to defend himself against the murder charges. In the end, it is the political establishment which decides that Joe has to die because of their dislike of his labor union activities. Joe dies in front of the firing squad and his ashes are sent in small envelopes to union organizations all over the world. His mission has been fulfilled. His final words are Christlike, he says: 

My will is easy to decide 

For there is nothing to divide

My kin don't need to fuss and moan

"Moss does not cling to rolling stone"

My body? Oh, if I could choose

I would to ashes it reduce

And let the merry breezes blow

My dust to where some flowers grow

Perhaps some fading flower then Would come to life and bloom again.

This is my Last and final Will. Good Luck to All of you

 Joe Hill