The Jungle Chapter Summary
The beginning of ‘The Jungle by Upton Sinclair starts with the wedding of Ona Lukoszaite and Jurgis Rudkus who are immigrants that arrived in Chicago from Lithuania. Their wedding takes place in an area of Chicago called Packingtown due to it being the center of the meat packing industry. During the celebration the guest are supposed to drop money into a hat to help pay for the wedding. But most guest dropout of the party without contributing any money and the newlyweds are unable to pay the bill. This is when Jurgis promises that he will find a job in this new land to make money to support their new lives. In the following chapter the author talks about the family past of Jurgis and Ona and how before they came to America they did not have
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any money left of their savings. After the wedding Jurgis comes upon a man who directs Ona and himself to a boarding house where they soon move into. When they both begin to walk through the neighborhood that they are residing in they see stockyards and smell rotting meat. This is when Jurgis promises that he will soon find a job in Packingtown. Jurgis and Ona are then taken on a tour of Packingtown by Jokubas and they see tens of thousands of pens that are packed with suffering animals that are soon to be killed. Jokbus jokes with the wonder filled Jurgis about the sanitation rules of the factory and how no one follows them, and how the government inspector does not seem to care either. This includes the tuberculosis found in slaughtered pigs and the spoiled meat that is mixed into the fresh meat.
When Jurgis begins working he is optimistic because he earns over two dollars an hour for his twelve hours of labor. Things also begin get better for his family, including Marija earning a job painting labels on cans. Ona, Marija, and Teta Elzbieta then find an add for four room homes and they quickly sign a deal even though Jakubas tell them that the deal is most likely a scam. Once the family moves into the house they begin to adjust to their everyday routine working in the slaughterhouse and Jurgis begins to enjoy it, while everyone else hates it. Dede Antanas, the father, even gets offered a job even though he has to exchange one-third of his wages for his work packing meat. The family begins to talk with their neighbors about the house and they realize that the house is a rental and most families get evicted because they are not able to pay the monthly bill. Unable to afford the rent Ona and the young Stanislovas obtain a job to make extra money. During the winter seasons Marijas factory shuts down and she loses her jobs. Jurgus as well is laid off from some of his hours at his job. This inspires him and other Lithuanians to join the
union. Jurgis attends meetings and also goes to night school to attempt to learn english and to later become a citizen. Through this process he learns the corruption of irish politicians and fears disease and injury that comes as a result from the labor force. With the arrival of spring Marina returns working painting cans but is fired soon after for voicing her opinion of not receiving a portion of her wages. At the end of this section Ona gives birth to Jurgis’s child and due to the lack of financial stability Ona returns to work only a week after giving birth.
Chapters 11-23 The wages of the factory workers continues to decrease, and there is a run on the bank. This is when Marija withdraws her saving and begins to sew it into her clothing which begins to weigh her down. During this time Jurgis als sprains his ankle and he is not able to work, and Stanislovas received frostbite on his hands and often has to be beat by Jurgis in order to get him to go to work. With Jonas missing, Teta Elzbieta's olders are sent to work as newspaper sellers and the youngest sons Kristoforas dies when he ate bad met. In the Spring, Jurgis finds a job at a fertilizer mill and the summer brings more prosperity to the family butteta Elizabeta's health begins to decrease. The pressure of the work force drives Ona and Jurgis apart and Jurgus soon suffers from alcoholism. Winter comes again and one night Ona does not return home and Jurgis discovers that a boss at her factor pleaded with her to become his mistress and that he eventually raped her at the factory. Out of rage Jurgis goes to Ona’s workplace and attacks Connor (the boss that raped Ona) and he is later taken to the police station. Jurgis is arrested and awaits for his trial, and is later sentenced to thirty days in jail. While in jail he is visited by Stanislovas who tells him that himself, Ona, Marija, and Teta Elzbieta have lost their jobs and now their only source of income is the pay the children earn from selling papers and whatever they receive from begging on the streets. Jurgis is forced to stay in jail for three extra days because he is unable to pay the cost of the trial and when he is released he finds another family staying in his home because his family was unable to pay the rent and got evicted. Jurgis heads to the boarding house where his family lived when they first arrived and he finds Ona going into premature labor. Jurgis searches to find a midwife to help Ona and when they get back to the boarding house she turns him aways, telling him he will not help the process. He returns in the mrning to find that Ona and the baby is dead. After the death Jurgis searches to find a job in Packingtown but his recent fight with Phil Connor makes it difficult. After a few weeks he runs into an old member from his union and Jurgis is led t a factory where machines are produced and he is hopeful for the future. This soon diminishes when he finds that his department of the factory is closing. This leaves to Jurgis’s family living only off of the wages that the children bring in. One day Juozapas runs into a rich women that offers to help find Jurgis a job. Jurgis is hired but the mill is far from his house. One day when he returns home he finds that Antanas has drowned in mud on the streets. After seeing Antanas dead body Jurgis hides in a railway car and jumps off when he reaches a farmer's field.
any money left of their savings. After the wedding Jurgis comes upon a man who directs Ona and himself to a boarding house where they soon move into. When they both begin to walk through the neighborhood that they are residing in they see stockyards and smell rotting meat. This is when Jurgis promises that he will soon find a job in Packingtown. Jurgis and Ona are then taken on a tour of Packingtown by Jokubas and they see tens of thousands of pens that are packed with suffering animals that are soon to be killed. Jokbus jokes with the wonder filled Jurgis about the sanitation rules of the factory and how no one follows them, and how the government inspector does not seem to care either. This includes the tuberculosis found in slaughtered pigs and the spoiled meat that is mixed into the fresh meat.
When Jurgis begins working he is optimistic because he earns over two dollars an hour for his twelve hours of labor. Things also begin get better for his family, including Marija earning a job painting labels on cans. Ona, Marija, and Teta Elzbieta then find an add for four room homes and they quickly sign a deal even though Jakubas tell them that the deal is most likely a scam. Once the family moves into the house they begin to adjust to their everyday routine working in the slaughterhouse and Jurgis begins to enjoy it, while everyone else hates it. Dede Antanas, the father, even gets offered a job even though he has to exchange one-third of his wages for his work packing meat. The family begins to talk with their neighbors about the house and they realize that the house is a rental and most families get evicted because they are not able to pay the monthly bill. Unable to afford the rent Ona and the young Stanislovas obtain a job to make extra money. During the winter seasons Marijas factory shuts down and she loses her jobs. Jurgus as well is laid off from some of his hours at his job. This inspires him and other Lithuanians to join the
union. Jurgis attends meetings and also goes to night school to attempt to learn english and to later become a citizen. Through this process he learns the corruption of irish politicians and fears disease and injury that comes as a result from the labor force. With the arrival of spring Marina returns working painting cans but is fired soon after for voicing her opinion of not receiving a portion of her wages. At the end of this section Ona gives birth to Jurgis’s child and due to the lack of financial stability Ona returns to work only a week after giving birth.
Chapters 11-23 The wages of the factory workers continues to decrease, and there is a run on the bank. This is when Marija withdraws her saving and begins to sew it into her clothing which begins to weigh her down. During this time Jurgis als sprains his ankle and he is not able to work, and Stanislovas received frostbite on his hands and often has to be beat by Jurgis in order to get him to go to work. With Jonas missing, Teta Elzbieta's olders are sent to work as newspaper sellers and the youngest sons Kristoforas dies when he ate bad met. In the Spring, Jurgis finds a job at a fertilizer mill and the summer brings more prosperity to the family butteta Elizabeta's health begins to decrease. The pressure of the work force drives Ona and Jurgis apart and Jurgus soon suffers from alcoholism. Winter comes again and one night Ona does not return home and Jurgis discovers that a boss at her factor pleaded with her to become his mistress and that he eventually raped her at the factory. Out of rage Jurgis goes to Ona’s workplace and attacks Connor (the boss that raped Ona) and he is later taken to the police station. Jurgis is arrested and awaits for his trial, and is later sentenced to thirty days in jail. While in jail he is visited by Stanislovas who tells him that himself, Ona, Marija, and Teta Elzbieta have lost their jobs and now their only source of income is the pay the children earn from selling papers and whatever they receive from begging on the streets. Jurgis is forced to stay in jail for three extra days because he is unable to pay the cost of the trial and when he is released he finds another family staying in his home because his family was unable to pay the rent and got evicted. Jurgis heads to the boarding house where his family lived when they first arrived and he finds Ona going into premature labor. Jurgis searches to find a midwife to help Ona and when they get back to the boarding house she turns him aways, telling him he will not help the process. He returns in the mrning to find that Ona and the baby is dead. After the death Jurgis searches to find a job in Packingtown but his recent fight with Phil Connor makes it difficult. After a few weeks he runs into an old member from his union and Jurgis is led t a factory where machines are produced and he is hopeful for the future. This soon diminishes when he finds that his department of the factory is closing. This leaves to Jurgis’s family living only off of the wages that the children bring in. One day Juozapas runs into a rich women that offers to help find Jurgis a job. Jurgis is hired but the mill is far from his house. One day when he returns home he finds that Antanas has drowned in mud on the streets. After seeing Antanas dead body Jurgis hides in a railway car and jumps off when he reaches a farmer's field.