Chapter 18
It took Jurgis longer to get out of jail than he expected because of fees he was unable to pay. When he was finally set free it was as if he were an animal being introduced to a whole other environment. He had to walk his way back home which was over a 20 mile journey. When Jurgis asked for directions, a boy pointed him in the wrong one purposefully. This was probably a sick joke that the boy played on Jurgis because he could see that he was a "jail bird" by his shaved head. This is a crude example of a person judging someone by their looks. This boy has no hint of an idea of what Jurgis and his family has been through, yet he finds it funny to send this criminal off in the wrong direction, further from his family, his friends, and his home.
This is after Jurgis has spent time in the horrible conditions of prison. Prison conditions weren't the best in the late 19th century-early 20th century. As Sinclair highlights in the book by talking about the cockroaches falling out of beds, prisoners given rags to clean their cells, and children being present among the other prisoners. Movements were being made to try and improve conditions around the 1890's but improvements didn't come until much later.
Jurgis finally makes it home, just to find his dreams crushed. The house and the trim were painted different colors, the roof had been fixed, and new curtains had been hung. Jurgis immediately realized something was wrong. To verify his thoughts, a young fat Irish boy stepped out of the house and Jurgis went on to question him. The mother came out and told Jurgis, "I bought the house only three days ago, and there was nobody here, and they told me it was all new. Do you really mean that you had ever rented it?" From this, we again see the never ending cycle of people falling into the traps set by companies in this Packingtown, but the worst of this situation isn't the fact that another victim has just been lured into these traps. To Jurgis and his family, their house was the only thing that they had that they could truly appreciate. The family put all their effort into making payments for this house. Many times they would pay on the house instead of food. They had literally struggled and fought to the point of death to keep that house, and now it had been taken from them with no way to get it back. Jurgis was already extremely worried about his family when he first got out of jail. Now, his worst fears have become reality and it nearly breaks this man apart. This man, who used to be huge and invincible, is now broken down on the side of the street in hysterics.
Chapter 19
Jurgis get's attempts to get someone to help his wife because when he arrived to Aniele's house, where his family is staying now, Ona had went into labor 2 months too early. The woman he goes to keeps demanding more money. The reader is beginning to think that this woman is going to let Ona die. Then finally, as Jurgis is leaving, the Dutch woman says, "It is not goot to tink of anybody suffering. I might as vell go mit you for notting as vot you offer me, but I vill try to help you." Conditions in Packingtown are so bad that people really don't care if someone is dying. They are more concerned with the money they could get from someone than saving a person's life. This women seems to be generous and offering Jurgis help, but she does not go without making the point clear that she still expects full payment. Her help is not enough and Ona dies.
Less than 5% of women gave birth in hospitals in the early 1900's. The Federal Children's Bureau was founded to investigate deaths during birth. Before women's rights movements became popular cases like Ona's were probably not uncommon. Conditions improved some though, and by the 1920's up to 50% of women were giving births in hospitals.
Kotrina enters with the money she has made and Jurgis takes it and gets drunk.
These chapter primarily seem to just add and add to the ongoing theme of suffering that Upton Sinclair creates in The Jungle. He does pretty much in an attempt to get the reader interested in socialism and ultimately become a socialist.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Chapters 16 and 17
In chapters sixteen and seventeen Jurgis and his family go
through the hardest thing yet.
Chapter sixteen starts off with a drastic change of events.
Jurgis is being escorted to jail for the crimes that he has committed against
Ona’s boss. While he is in jail he begins to think about his family and how
they will live without his support and money.
“-the later stiff as boards with filth, and alive with
fleas, bedbugs, and lice. When Jugis lifted up the mattress he discovered
beneath it a layer of scurrying roaches, almost as badly frightened as himself.”
When Jurgis arrives at the prison he realizes that it is
really unsanitary. It has roaches and all kinds of bugs in the beds. Ironically
though the prison guards make him take a longer bath than the other prisoners
because he smells like fertilizer.
“Jurgis would have spoken again, but the policeman had seized
him by the collar and was twisting it, and a second policeman was making for
him with evidently hostile intentions.”
Jurgis had his trial and it was completely unfair being that
he couldn’t really speak that well and the judge was not really on his side.
Jurgis ended up with thirty days in jail. When the trial was over Jurgis was
moved to a different jail where during the day, he went outside to break stones.
This had no meaning other than to keep the prisoners busy during the day and give
them something to do in the 1900’s.
While Jurgis was working he got a visitor at the jail. It
was Stanislovas. He was sent to tell Jurgis about the conditions at their home.
He told Jurgis that Ona was very sick, lost her job, and could not work. Marija
had cut her hand badly and it turned green and the doctor said that they would
most likely have to cut it off. To top it all off a big snow came and the able
can not work because they simply can not get to work.
Times are very hard for the characters in the book. Jurgis
is locked away and is powerless to help his family, Ona is sick and has lost
her job, and all other members of the family cannot go to work due to the
weather. Maybe the American Dream is not a dream at all but an American
Nightmare.
”When the night fell he was pacing up and down his cell like
a wild beast that breaks its teeth upon the bars of its cage.”
This a simile because in is using like to compare Jurgis to
a wild beast because he is very angry and scared and is pacing up and down the
cell.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Chapters 14 & 15
At the beginning of chapter 14, the readers are once again delved into the numerous magical wonders taking place in the meat factories. By this time in the novel, it describes that the family has begun to learn the ropes of the Packingtown, so to speak. The family is realizing that the company is completely truthful concerning their pun of a slogan. Jonas would come back home from work and tell the family about the spoiled and sour meat being disguised as Number One Grade by all of their chemical experiments, but it's probably classified so because of the poisonous rats all sliced up in there. Yummy...
"With what had been told them by Jonas, who had worked in the pickle rooms, they could now study the whole of the spoiled-meat industry on the inside, and read a new and grim meaning into that old Packingtown jest- that they use everything of the pig except the squeal."
The book described their experience in Packingtown to a game in which they had lost. They had come to America looking for freedom and joy, but they in turn they found oppression and poverty. They all still had that yearning inside of their hearts, though, to be happy and satisfied, but it was dead inside of them, waiting to spring forth. Jurgis found a new way to deal with this hurt- drinking. He was ashamed of this action, but it took every concern that he had away. He tried his best to stay away from it for Ona and his family, but during this time he was full of regret for his family. He declared within himself that his family was the only reason that he was still in this situation, otherwise he would be gone like Jonas. He developed a crude sense of remorse towards them, as if they were a huge unmovable burden upon him. Ona was not in good health, and neither was their little boy, Antanas. He had a number of diseases that he had to live with. This drove Jurgis crazy. He couldn't handle what she was going through.
"For Ona was visibly going to pieces. In the first place she was developing a cough, like the one that had killed old Dede Antanas. She had had a trace of it ever since that fatal morning when the greedy streetcar corporation had turned her out into the rain; but now it was beginning to grow serious, and to wake her up at night. Even worse than that was the fearful nervousness from which she suffered; she would have frightful headaches and fits of aimless weeping, and sometimes she would fling herself down upon the bed and burst into tears. Several times she was quite beside herself and hysterical; and then Jurgis would go half mad with fright."
This job was killing Ona, literally, both mentally and physically. The reading reveals that there was something else aiding in her demise, however. The winter season was coming upon the characters once again. The holiday rush season was taking place, and Ona, Marija, and Elzbieta would have to work until late at night. Around Thanksgiving, a terrible snowstorm had hit the area. The girls would usually meet and walk home together after work, but one night Ona had not came home. Elzbieta and Marija were crying compulsively because they were worried to death. Being as she was not in good health, they assumed she had died at work or in the storm. Jurgis went out to find her, and he finally did right when the mornings work was set to begin. She claimed she had been at her friends house. She was so upset and frightened. Another instance came around Christmas. The same thing happened- Ona didn't come home, but it was even more strange because there was no bad weather or anything to prevent her homecoming. Jurgis goes to her friend Jadvyga's home, where he supposed her to be. She wasn't there. So he goes back home, and there she is. Long story short: the bossman and the forelady who did not like Ona forced her to be a part of a house, or basically be used for sexual purposes against her will. This had been going on since two months into their arrival. Jurgis went crazy in rage, and beat up the dude who was doing this to Ona, and bit part of his face off.
"With what had been told them by Jonas, who had worked in the pickle rooms, they could now study the whole of the spoiled-meat industry on the inside, and read a new and grim meaning into that old Packingtown jest- that they use everything of the pig except the squeal."
The book described their experience in Packingtown to a game in which they had lost. They had come to America looking for freedom and joy, but they in turn they found oppression and poverty. They all still had that yearning inside of their hearts, though, to be happy and satisfied, but it was dead inside of them, waiting to spring forth. Jurgis found a new way to deal with this hurt- drinking. He was ashamed of this action, but it took every concern that he had away. He tried his best to stay away from it for Ona and his family, but during this time he was full of regret for his family. He declared within himself that his family was the only reason that he was still in this situation, otherwise he would be gone like Jonas. He developed a crude sense of remorse towards them, as if they were a huge unmovable burden upon him. Ona was not in good health, and neither was their little boy, Antanas. He had a number of diseases that he had to live with. This drove Jurgis crazy. He couldn't handle what she was going through.
"For Ona was visibly going to pieces. In the first place she was developing a cough, like the one that had killed old Dede Antanas. She had had a trace of it ever since that fatal morning when the greedy streetcar corporation had turned her out into the rain; but now it was beginning to grow serious, and to wake her up at night. Even worse than that was the fearful nervousness from which she suffered; she would have frightful headaches and fits of aimless weeping, and sometimes she would fling herself down upon the bed and burst into tears. Several times she was quite beside herself and hysterical; and then Jurgis would go half mad with fright."
This job was killing Ona, literally, both mentally and physically. The reading reveals that there was something else aiding in her demise, however. The winter season was coming upon the characters once again. The holiday rush season was taking place, and Ona, Marija, and Elzbieta would have to work until late at night. Around Thanksgiving, a terrible snowstorm had hit the area. The girls would usually meet and walk home together after work, but one night Ona had not came home. Elzbieta and Marija were crying compulsively because they were worried to death. Being as she was not in good health, they assumed she had died at work or in the storm. Jurgis went out to find her, and he finally did right when the mornings work was set to begin. She claimed she had been at her friends house. She was so upset and frightened. Another instance came around Christmas. The same thing happened- Ona didn't come home, but it was even more strange because there was no bad weather or anything to prevent her homecoming. Jurgis goes to her friend Jadvyga's home, where he supposed her to be. She wasn't there. So he goes back home, and there she is. Long story short: the bossman and the forelady who did not like Ona forced her to be a part of a house, or basically be used for sexual purposes against her will. This had been going on since two months into their arrival. Jurgis went crazy in rage, and beat up the dude who was doing this to Ona, and bit part of his face off.
Chapters 12 and 13
Chapter 12
Jurgis's ankle is still hurt too bad to work. Jonas disappears and it is looked at as a blessing yet a great loss. The family didn't seem to be too upset about his loss, as it was one less mouth to feed, but it was a loss of income for the family. It is crazy to think that the unfortunate events that have happened in their life have left them not caring about a loss of a family member. The only concern of the family seems to be survival. The families solution to the lost income is to send the Vilimas, age 11, and Nikalojus, age 10, to sell newspapers. We find out in Chapter 13 that these boys end up learning things such as gambling skills, the names and houses of prostitutes, the locations of bars, etc. They sleep on the street as they say, "What was the use of wasting time and energy and a possible carfare riding out to the stockyards every night when the weather was pleasant and they could crawl under a truck or into an empty doorway and sleep exactly as well?" Another interesting point that was brought up in this chapter was mentioned in that section of the text. The idea of stealing from thieves. By this I mean the boys sneaking onto the cars to travel. They say that they say this as being fair. "And besides, the companies were thieves, people said-had stolen all their franchises with the help of scoundrelly politicians!" So if the companies were being crooks and stealing, was it not okay for them to do the same to them? Also at the end of the chapter it states that the only way a man is to make a living is if he is selfish. If he does not marry, if he ignores his parents crying out for help, if he overlooks his starving neighbors, then he can make it on his own. The horrible living conditions of Packingtown seem to suck all of the morals out of its residents and make them as cold as winter, but as cruel as the devil in the flaming heat of hell itself.
Chapter 13
Kristoforas, a crippled son of Teta Elzbieta, dies; they think from the tubercular pork, mentioned in earlier chapters that cannot pass inspection to be exported, but can be sent out there in that town. A death in this town is of no importance to anybody except maybe members of that persons family. It is a never ending cycle. Immigrants come looking to live the American dream, but suffer in this horrible place and wither away and die and more come to replace them. From census.gov linked before, it states, "From 1850 to 1930, the foreign-born population of the United States increased from 2.2 million to 14.2 million." Most of these workers probably came to prosper in America, and the number that suffered, as have Jurgis and his family, compared to the number that actually lived their dream is very likely a heartbreaking and significantly unbalanced number. Jurgis goes to work in the fertilizer mill. Jurgis is going to work at a place that is feared by all the men looking for work. Elzbieta started work making sausages. It describes the sausage making process as fascinating work that is if you are one watching it. The women who do this work are part of a dreadful process stuck in a damp room with the smell of moist flesh all day long. "It was piece work, and she was apt to have a family to keep alive; and stern and ruthless economic laws had arranged it that she could only do this by working just as she did, with all her soul upon her work, and with never an instant for a glance at the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who came to stare, as at some wild beast in a menagerie." The work is bad enough that these women and all the the people in Packingtown have to do without being stared at as the do it. The people that come to look are shown just enough to admire the process and not experience the gruesomeness of these meat packing industries and such. It is all a lie and a show for the companies to prosper; they really could not possible care any less for any of the lives of the workers. This is where we see Upton Sinclair's view of capitalism. As in the website linked points out through multiple examples that range from 1700's England to today's factories in China. The companies determine profit off of the price of the tools and resources needed to make their product. There is no concern for workers or their wages, and the companies keep low wages and even bad working conditions to make money on the workers. Money is the root of all evil and capitalism certainly verifies this idea.
Jurgis's ankle is still hurt too bad to work. Jonas disappears and it is looked at as a blessing yet a great loss. The family didn't seem to be too upset about his loss, as it was one less mouth to feed, but it was a loss of income for the family. It is crazy to think that the unfortunate events that have happened in their life have left them not caring about a loss of a family member. The only concern of the family seems to be survival. The families solution to the lost income is to send the Vilimas, age 11, and Nikalojus, age 10, to sell newspapers. We find out in Chapter 13 that these boys end up learning things such as gambling skills, the names and houses of prostitutes, the locations of bars, etc. They sleep on the street as they say, "What was the use of wasting time and energy and a possible carfare riding out to the stockyards every night when the weather was pleasant and they could crawl under a truck or into an empty doorway and sleep exactly as well?" Another interesting point that was brought up in this chapter was mentioned in that section of the text. The idea of stealing from thieves. By this I mean the boys sneaking onto the cars to travel. They say that they say this as being fair. "And besides, the companies were thieves, people said-had stolen all their franchises with the help of scoundrelly politicians!" So if the companies were being crooks and stealing, was it not okay for them to do the same to them? Also at the end of the chapter it states that the only way a man is to make a living is if he is selfish. If he does not marry, if he ignores his parents crying out for help, if he overlooks his starving neighbors, then he can make it on his own. The horrible living conditions of Packingtown seem to suck all of the morals out of its residents and make them as cold as winter, but as cruel as the devil in the flaming heat of hell itself.
Chapter 13
Kristoforas, a crippled son of Teta Elzbieta, dies; they think from the tubercular pork, mentioned in earlier chapters that cannot pass inspection to be exported, but can be sent out there in that town. A death in this town is of no importance to anybody except maybe members of that persons family. It is a never ending cycle. Immigrants come looking to live the American dream, but suffer in this horrible place and wither away and die and more come to replace them. From census.gov linked before, it states, "From 1850 to 1930, the foreign-born population of the United States increased from 2.2 million to 14.2 million." Most of these workers probably came to prosper in America, and the number that suffered, as have Jurgis and his family, compared to the number that actually lived their dream is very likely a heartbreaking and significantly unbalanced number. Jurgis goes to work in the fertilizer mill. Jurgis is going to work at a place that is feared by all the men looking for work. Elzbieta started work making sausages. It describes the sausage making process as fascinating work that is if you are one watching it. The women who do this work are part of a dreadful process stuck in a damp room with the smell of moist flesh all day long. "It was piece work, and she was apt to have a family to keep alive; and stern and ruthless economic laws had arranged it that she could only do this by working just as she did, with all her soul upon her work, and with never an instant for a glance at the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who came to stare, as at some wild beast in a menagerie." The work is bad enough that these women and all the the people in Packingtown have to do without being stared at as the do it. The people that come to look are shown just enough to admire the process and not experience the gruesomeness of these meat packing industries and such. It is all a lie and a show for the companies to prosper; they really could not possible care any less for any of the lives of the workers. This is where we see Upton Sinclair's view of capitalism. As in the website linked points out through multiple examples that range from 1700's England to today's factories in China. The companies determine profit off of the price of the tools and resources needed to make their product. There is no concern for workers or their wages, and the companies keep low wages and even bad working conditions to make money on the workers. Money is the root of all evil and capitalism certainly verifies this idea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)