Chapters 18 and 19

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.