Through the theater, Expressionist writers were able to visually enact the scenes they witnessed as well as the scenes they foresaw to relate their vision to large audiences. Many writers took part in the theme of revolt against the growing industrialization. Gas by Georg Kaiser is a good example of this theme because it tells the story of a mill that is run in a democratic way and by profit shared methods that were revolutionary in itself at the time. But despite the owner's good intentions, the mill (which produces gas that runs all the county's machines) explodes and the owner (the billionaire's son) is faced with a moral dilemma. He, like the Expressionist artists, wants change. He does not wish to rebuild the mill that has destroyed so many lives. However he is the only character who realizes this importance of a better life, one that isn't ruled by machines. Despite the workers' unhappiness with the way their lives were when they were ruled by the mill, they know no other existence so they wish to rebuild. It is this moral conflict of true happiness versus getting by that depicts how industrialization was problematic not only for artists but workers and humanity as well.

The painting by Franz Marc, The Bewitched Mill (1912), portrays the haunting control that factories and mills had during the beginning of the twentieth century. The rushing power of the water centers the painting and thus symbolizes the mill as the new and unfortunate center of life. The water swallows up wildlife as it performs its task of production.

The background image reflects the Expressionists' desire to leave the city, and to return to the old way of life. The farmer that sits next to his horse and wagon is pasted again and again over the crowded city to portray this preference.

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