Chapters 2 & 3

The chapters of two and three are quite descriptive in relation to the setting. It also describes how Jurgis and Ona and their families came together: Jurgis met Ona at a horse fair. The former homeland of the characters introduced in chapter one is a rural area in Lithuania. It was a lush, forested area. They had been intoxicated by the idea of the American Dream.

"Jurgis, too, had heard of America. That was a country where, they said, a man might earn three rubles a day, and  Jurgis figured what three rubles a day would mean, with prices as they were where he lived, and decided forthwith that h would go to America and marry, and be a rich man in the bargain. In that country, rich or poor, a man was free, it was said; he did not have to go into the army, he did not have to pay out his money to rascally officials- he might do as he pleased, and count himself as good as any other man."

Upon the party's arrival in America, they were destined for Chicago because this is where a friend of Jonas had gotten rich- in a stockyard, but along the way they came across a few problems, being as they were foreigners in a completely new world. This particular destination was probably not the ideal location for the American Dream. It was crowded, smelly, dirty, and quite a disturbing place to live- most likely the complete opposite of what the group had in mind. The intense change in the setting on the train ride to the town dubbed Packingtown is described:

"A full hour before the party reached the city they had begun to note the perplexing changes in the atmosphere. It grew darker all the time, and upon the earth the grass seemed to grow less green. Every minute, as the train sped on, the colors of things became dingier; the fields were  grown parched and yellow, the landscape hideous and bare. And along with the thickening smoke they began to notice another circumstance, a strange, pungent odor."

A new found family friend, Jokubas, a native also of Lithuania, gives the whole group a tour of the whole slaughtering process. The said process is quite gruesome, in fact. While Jurgis is witnessing the slaughter of hogs, a deep feeling of concern is running through his mind, as he wonders how the killing of these seemingly individual and self-willed animals is justifiable. He compares each hog to an individual, as a person, basically. He describes their dignity, their heart's desire, their hope. Each had their mind made up that nothing would interfere, but then comes Fate in the form of the slaughter, swooping down without any respect to who they are. It hits the readers' hearts because the narrator personifies the hogs in a deep, human-like way, hoping that there is basically "hog heaven" for these innocent creatures.

It also mentions the long list of products developed by these factories. Every part of the animal is utilized for many different uses such as glue, buttons, lard, etc.