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.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Chapters 10 and 11
In these two chapters Jurgis and his family go through really hard times. They begin to realize that life is not easy and things definitely do not go as planned.
"This was in truth not living; it was scarcely even existing, and they felt that it was too little for the price they paid. They were willing to work all the time; and when people did their best, ought they not be able to keep alive?"
Almost every family member works and does their best at it. Jurgis works from early in the morning til late in the night, and only stays home on Sunday. Soon after Ona has her baby, she returns to work. Still they can barely manage to get by. Times haven't changed much. Even now families work as hard as they can and like the family in the book they barely manage to live.
"The coming out of this boy was a decisive event with Jurgis. It made him irrevocably a family man; it killed the last lingering impulse that he might have had to go out in the evenings and sit and talk with the men at the salons."
This was a sign of hope for the family. Even when they were barely making it, and they were so miserable. The baby came and Jurgis forgot bout his troubles and was able to realize that he had more important things to worry about than going out.
In chapter eleven a bad turn of events happened to the family.
"She broke into a run, shouting to the people to ask what was the matter, but not stopping to hear what they answered, till she had come to where the throng was so dense that she could no longer advance. There was a 'run on the bank,' they told her then, but she did not know what that was, and turned from one person to another, trying on agony of fear to make out what they meant."
Marija had put her money in a bank and as she walked past it on her way to work one morning she noticed that people were surrounding it. They said that there was a "run on the bank" which means people who are members of the bank believe for one reason or another that the bank will fail, so they try to withdraw all of their money at one time.
"The injury was not one that Durham and Company could be held responsible for, and so that was all there was to it, so far as the doctor was concerned."
Jurgis hurt his foot and was ordered out of work for weeks. The book takes place in early nineteen hundreds, and workers compensation did not begin til mid nineteen hundreds. So the company that Jurgis worked for did not cover his injuries. Therefore he would be out of work with no pay. No one knows when something like this might happen, and the family definitely was not prepared for it. This is bad for many reasons but mainly because if Jurgis cannot go to work, he could lose his job to someone else that can be at work every day. The family is going through some hard times right now in the novel and it doesn’t look like they are going to make it much longer. Especially if they have another mouth to feed.
"It was a week before Christmas that they first great storm came, and the soul of Jurgis rose up within him like a lion."
This is a simile that compares Jurgis' soul with a lion.
"This was in truth not living; it was scarcely even existing, and they felt that it was too little for the price they paid. They were willing to work all the time; and when people did their best, ought they not be able to keep alive?"
Almost every family member works and does their best at it. Jurgis works from early in the morning til late in the night, and only stays home on Sunday. Soon after Ona has her baby, she returns to work. Still they can barely manage to get by. Times haven't changed much. Even now families work as hard as they can and like the family in the book they barely manage to live.
"The coming out of this boy was a decisive event with Jurgis. It made him irrevocably a family man; it killed the last lingering impulse that he might have had to go out in the evenings and sit and talk with the men at the salons."
This was a sign of hope for the family. Even when they were barely making it, and they were so miserable. The baby came and Jurgis forgot bout his troubles and was able to realize that he had more important things to worry about than going out.
In chapter eleven a bad turn of events happened to the family.
"She broke into a run, shouting to the people to ask what was the matter, but not stopping to hear what they answered, till she had come to where the throng was so dense that she could no longer advance. There was a 'run on the bank,' they told her then, but she did not know what that was, and turned from one person to another, trying on agony of fear to make out what they meant."
Marija had put her money in a bank and as she walked past it on her way to work one morning she noticed that people were surrounding it. They said that there was a "run on the bank" which means people who are members of the bank believe for one reason or another that the bank will fail, so they try to withdraw all of their money at one time.
"The injury was not one that Durham and Company could be held responsible for, and so that was all there was to it, so far as the doctor was concerned."
Jurgis hurt his foot and was ordered out of work for weeks. The book takes place in early nineteen hundreds, and workers compensation did not begin til mid nineteen hundreds. So the company that Jurgis worked for did not cover his injuries. Therefore he would be out of work with no pay. No one knows when something like this might happen, and the family definitely was not prepared for it. This is bad for many reasons but mainly because if Jurgis cannot go to work, he could lose his job to someone else that can be at work every day. The family is going through some hard times right now in the novel and it doesn’t look like they are going to make it much longer. Especially if they have another mouth to feed.
"It was a week before Christmas that they first great storm came, and the soul of Jurgis rose up within him like a lion."
This is a simile that compares Jurgis' soul with a lion.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Chapters 6 and 7
Chapter 6
In chapter 6,
we meet a new dreadful and very negative character: Grandmother Majauszkiene.
She tells them how they have been fooled like many before them. She tells them
that they are going to have to pay interest and as soon as a payment is missed
they could be evicted. This changes the mood from a hopeful and cheerful family
to worried and sorrowful victims.
Grandmother Majauszkiene however, is safe with her current situation.
"her son was a skilled man, who made as high as a hundred dollars a month, and as he had had sense enough not to marry, they had been able to pay for the house"
This is symbolic of every immigrant family in Packingtown. They come to this foreign place with the idea that they will be living the American dream and getting rich in no time at all, but they get married and get caught having to support a family and having nowhere else to go to get a job. Jurgis is already beginning to find himself in this situation. His biggest dreams are being crushed and things are taking a turn for the worst. Jurgis believed he could support the whole family by himself and now everyone is having to work. Stanislovas even has to lie about his age to work.
Child labor was a very common thing in
the early 1900's. Although some states were finally adding laws and regulations
child labor was still a problem. In the 1900's child labor peaked and started
to decline because unions and socialistic ideas and movements were fighting to
bring a stop to this torturous thing. It would seem like a good thing
that child labor was being stopped but many families relied on the extra income
that their children brought in to keep the family alive, such as Jurgis's
family's case. It was overall a great thing, especially for children, but it
also caused many families to struggle. There are pros and cons to every
decision.
Chapter 7
The book takes a total turn to a sad and depressing mood. A time that supposed to be filled with lots of love and joy, a time Jurgis and Ona have been dreaming of, their wedding comes but turns out to be just more trouble for them and leaving them more in debt.
The book takes a total turn to a sad and depressing mood. A time that supposed to be filled with lots of love and joy, a time Jurgis and Ona have been dreaming of, their wedding comes but turns out to be just more trouble for them and leaving them more in debt.
"They had
opened their hearts, like flowers to the springtime, and the merciless winter
had fallen upon them. They wondered if ever any love that had blossomed in the
world had been so crushed and trampled!"
The author even
adds this simile to describe their situation and their feelings. It does seem
that they have faced the worst possible circumstances, but things get worse
from there. Dede Antanas dies and winter comes to make things worse and worse.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Chapters 8 & 9
At the beginning of chapter eight, immediately the reader is delved into the new found love between Marija and Tamoszius. As one can imagine the pair, a big burly woman and this puny little man, they are quite an unconventional pair. But, hey, love is love. The description of their courtship is quite bubbly. They blush and are jealous of one another, as young lovers are, and they plan on being married quite soon. This relationship is seemingly beneficial not only to Marija, but also to the entirety of the family in more than one way as well.
"There was no place to entertain company except in the kitchen, in the midst of the family, and Tamoszius would sit there with his hat between his knees, never saying more than half a dozen words at the time, and turning red in the face before he managed to say those, until finally Jurgis would clap him upon the back, in his hearty way, cryring, 'Come now, brother, give us a tune.' And then Tamoszius's face would light up and he would get out his fiddle, tuck it under his chin, and play."
"There were other benefits accruing to Marija from this friendship- benefits of a more substantial nature. People paid Tamoszius big money to come and make music on state occasions..."
All of Marija's good fortune unfortunately receives a hard blow suddenly. The factory in which she paints cans shuts down, and she loses her job. This only begins to go into the description of the unsteady working conditions that all of the factory workers in the town are under. It seems that all of the workers are living under subjection to their job, almost as if they had unknowingly sold their souls to the meat packing industry. Jurgis would go to work at 7 A.M. sharp, if one minute late, and hour's pay was docked. During the bone chilling winter months, the workers would have to wait hours to even begin working, and those lost hours without pay or benefit to them. The hours that they did get were never sure. Sometimes they would be working until four in the evening, and sometimes it would be one in the morning.
These conditions led the family to join the workers union for the meat packing factories. This effort jump-started a swelling of pride in the family's freedom. They were just now realizing what it meant to have rights. Jurgis makes a comparison between the union and the Gospel:
"He forgot how he himself had been blind, a short time ago- after the fashion of all crusaders since the original ones, who set out to spread the gospel of Brotherhood by force of arms."
Jurgis's great splurge of pride gives him a desire of more. He becomes a citizen of the United States, and he also is paid two dollars to vote. He begins to take some classes at a night school where he learns to read a little and speak English. All of these happenings cause him to reflect on his past in Lithuania concerning politics under the Russian empire.
The mention of the cesspool dubbed "Bubbly Creek" leads to the abhorring descriptions of the terrible health conditions concerning the factory workers of Packingtown. Despite the factory's "government inspectors", unmentionable actions do take place. Rancid,diseased meat is used. Many products were made chemically, not even containing the said meats they were even supposed to be. The health of the workers was unimaginable. Chemicals would deteriorate their skin away; fingernails would be eaten away; rheumatism would cause a man to be bedridden; blood poisoning was a major issue; backs would be bent out of shape; men would even fall into vats of boiling water.
Obviously, this industry was not the most desirable field of work, but the workers were under the spell of this job, and no matter what they did, they could not get away from it.
"There was no place to entertain company except in the kitchen, in the midst of the family, and Tamoszius would sit there with his hat between his knees, never saying more than half a dozen words at the time, and turning red in the face before he managed to say those, until finally Jurgis would clap him upon the back, in his hearty way, cryring, 'Come now, brother, give us a tune.' And then Tamoszius's face would light up and he would get out his fiddle, tuck it under his chin, and play."
"There were other benefits accruing to Marija from this friendship- benefits of a more substantial nature. People paid Tamoszius big money to come and make music on state occasions..."
All of Marija's good fortune unfortunately receives a hard blow suddenly. The factory in which she paints cans shuts down, and she loses her job. This only begins to go into the description of the unsteady working conditions that all of the factory workers in the town are under. It seems that all of the workers are living under subjection to their job, almost as if they had unknowingly sold their souls to the meat packing industry. Jurgis would go to work at 7 A.M. sharp, if one minute late, and hour's pay was docked. During the bone chilling winter months, the workers would have to wait hours to even begin working, and those lost hours without pay or benefit to them. The hours that they did get were never sure. Sometimes they would be working until four in the evening, and sometimes it would be one in the morning.
These conditions led the family to join the workers union for the meat packing factories. This effort jump-started a swelling of pride in the family's freedom. They were just now realizing what it meant to have rights. Jurgis makes a comparison between the union and the Gospel:
"He forgot how he himself had been blind, a short time ago- after the fashion of all crusaders since the original ones, who set out to spread the gospel of Brotherhood by force of arms."
Jurgis's great splurge of pride gives him a desire of more. He becomes a citizen of the United States, and he also is paid two dollars to vote. He begins to take some classes at a night school where he learns to read a little and speak English. All of these happenings cause him to reflect on his past in Lithuania concerning politics under the Russian empire.
The mention of the cesspool dubbed "Bubbly Creek" leads to the abhorring descriptions of the terrible health conditions concerning the factory workers of Packingtown. Despite the factory's "government inspectors", unmentionable actions do take place. Rancid,diseased meat is used. Many products were made chemically, not even containing the said meats they were even supposed to be. The health of the workers was unimaginable. Chemicals would deteriorate their skin away; fingernails would be eaten away; rheumatism would cause a man to be bedridden; blood poisoning was a major issue; backs would be bent out of shape; men would even fall into vats of boiling water.
Obviously, this industry was not the most desirable field of work, but the workers were under the spell of this job, and no matter what they did, they could not get away from it.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Chapters 4 and 5
In chapters four and five, their perspective of the American Dream changes. Chapter four starts off with the family looking to buy a home to own instead of to pay rent. Chapter five explains that it was hard to find jobs and once they did, they were surprised at what was behind the doors.
"He would not have Ona working- he was not that sort of man, he said, and she was not that sort of woman. It would be a strange thing if a man like him could not support the family, with the help of the board of Jonas and Marija. He would not even hear of letting his children go to work-there were schools here in America for children, Jurgis had heard, to which they could go for nothing,"
Men were very prideful then. Jurgis could not stand the thought if Ona or the children going to work because he felt that he, the man of the house, should be able to go to work and provide for his family on his own. Jurgis says that he is not that sort of man and Ona is not that sort of woman. It is somewhat the same as current times because even though women can work, and do anything that a man can do, the man of the house feels that is his responsibility to take care of his family and be able to provide.
"'If there is anything wrong, do not give him the money, but go out and get a lawyer.' It was an agonizing moment, but she sat in the chair, her hands clenched like death, and made a fearful effort, summoning all her powers, and gasped out her purpose."
This passage includes a simile. It uses like to compare her clenched hands to death to emphasize how she feels.
" One of the first problems that Jurgis ran upon was that of the unions. He had no experience with unions, and he had to have it explained to him that the men were banded together for the purpose of fighting for their rights."
Unions are organizations within a work base that are trying to better the economy. Jurgis had a problem with them because although they promise a higher pay for those who want to join but they also lower profit.
"This floor was filthy, yet they set Antanas with his mop slopping the "pickle" into a hole that connected with a sink, where it was caught and used over again forever; and if that were not enough, there was a trap in the pipe, where all the scraps of meat and odds and ends of refuse were caught, and every few days it was the old man's task to clean these out, and shovel their contents into one of the trucks with the rest of the meat!"
The working conditions were very unsanitary and were till recently. The meat packing industry had many problems concerning working conditions of the workers and what the meat actually consisted of.
"He would not have Ona working- he was not that sort of man, he said, and she was not that sort of woman. It would be a strange thing if a man like him could not support the family, with the help of the board of Jonas and Marija. He would not even hear of letting his children go to work-there were schools here in America for children, Jurgis had heard, to which they could go for nothing,"
Men were very prideful then. Jurgis could not stand the thought if Ona or the children going to work because he felt that he, the man of the house, should be able to go to work and provide for his family on his own. Jurgis says that he is not that sort of man and Ona is not that sort of woman. It is somewhat the same as current times because even though women can work, and do anything that a man can do, the man of the house feels that is his responsibility to take care of his family and be able to provide.
"'If there is anything wrong, do not give him the money, but go out and get a lawyer.' It was an agonizing moment, but she sat in the chair, her hands clenched like death, and made a fearful effort, summoning all her powers, and gasped out her purpose."
This passage includes a simile. It uses like to compare her clenched hands to death to emphasize how she feels.
" One of the first problems that Jurgis ran upon was that of the unions. He had no experience with unions, and he had to have it explained to him that the men were banded together for the purpose of fighting for their rights."
Unions are organizations within a work base that are trying to better the economy. Jurgis had a problem with them because although they promise a higher pay for those who want to join but they also lower profit.
"This floor was filthy, yet they set Antanas with his mop slopping the "pickle" into a hole that connected with a sink, where it was caught and used over again forever; and if that were not enough, there was a trap in the pipe, where all the scraps of meat and odds and ends of refuse were caught, and every few days it was the old man's task to clean these out, and shovel their contents into one of the trucks with the rest of the meat!"
The working conditions were very unsanitary and were till recently. The meat packing industry had many problems concerning working conditions of the workers and what the meat actually consisted of.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
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 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.
Chapter 1
In chapter 1, we meet a lot of new characters at the wedding feast, or veselija, held for Ona and Jurgis in Chicago. The characters are Lithuanian and the feast is held according to Lithuanian customs. The author seems to focus a lot on the music played in this chapter, and although the musicians aren't that great everyone seems to enjoy the music played, but he particularly went int great detail describing Tamoszius.
"Now and then one leaps up with a cry and calls for this song or that, and then the fire leaps brighter in Tamoszius's eyes, and he flings up his fiddle and shouts to his companions, and away they go in mad career."
This passage is just one of the few in this chapter that go to describing the music played. The way Sinclair describes Tamoszius reminds me much of the Tasmanian Devil. He is small and full of life and spreads energy and wildness into everyone around him, but he does so through music. He is almost like a puppeteer and he controls the other people in the room by using the energy of his music.
Despite the whole veselija being held to Lithuanian customs down to the music, the people all dance to their own liking. People do the dance that the prefer to any song. This is somewhat of a symbol of the freedom that the Lithuanian people receive by moving to America. Some people pick up American style dances but some stick to tradition.
Sinclair uses many different ways to really describe the characters and he does so in such great detail. He calls Marija a horse and we see this broad muscular woman that carries meat cans all day. In describing the characters in chapter 1, we get bits and pieces of what this book is going to be about, the meat industry.
The veselija is like a representation of socialistic ideas in this time. The idea that everyone helps out and contributes what they can to try and get the poor out of the hole they are in. The link above is a link to Socialism in America. On this site it states:
"Socialism is the belief and the hope that by proper use of government power, men can be rescued from their helplessness in the wild cycling cruelty of depression and boom."
This concept is much the same as acziavimas in this novel. Teta Elzbieta is like the government saying that each person must give what they can. "he finds himself face to face with Teta Elzbieta who holds the hat. Into it he drops a sum of money-a dollar... The guests are expected to pay for this entertainment." Each person gave what they could afford to give in return the got a dance with the bride. The small donations from each person helped to pay for the vesilja helping Jurgis and Ona out. With this in mind Socialism made little fixes that resulted in helping everyone. Like Socialism, there was no private property and Teta (the government) took up small funds to distrubute it to the poor to help.
"Now and then one leaps up with a cry and calls for this song or that, and then the fire leaps brighter in Tamoszius's eyes, and he flings up his fiddle and shouts to his companions, and away they go in mad career."
This passage is just one of the few in this chapter that go to describing the music played. The way Sinclair describes Tamoszius reminds me much of the Tasmanian Devil. He is small and full of life and spreads energy and wildness into everyone around him, but he does so through music. He is almost like a puppeteer and he controls the other people in the room by using the energy of his music.
Despite the whole veselija being held to Lithuanian customs down to the music, the people all dance to their own liking. People do the dance that the prefer to any song. This is somewhat of a symbol of the freedom that the Lithuanian people receive by moving to America. Some people pick up American style dances but some stick to tradition.
Sinclair uses many different ways to really describe the characters and he does so in such great detail. He calls Marija a horse and we see this broad muscular woman that carries meat cans all day. In describing the characters in chapter 1, we get bits and pieces of what this book is going to be about, the meat industry.
The veselija is like a representation of socialistic ideas in this time. The idea that everyone helps out and contributes what they can to try and get the poor out of the hole they are in. The link above is a link to Socialism in America. On this site it states:
"Socialism is the belief and the hope that by proper use of government power, men can be rescued from their helplessness in the wild cycling cruelty of depression and boom."
This concept is much the same as acziavimas in this novel. Teta Elzbieta is like the government saying that each person must give what they can. "he finds himself face to face with Teta Elzbieta who holds the hat. Into it he drops a sum of money-a dollar... The guests are expected to pay for this entertainment." Each person gave what they could afford to give in return the got a dance with the bride. The small donations from each person helped to pay for the vesilja helping Jurgis and Ona out. With this in mind Socialism made little fixes that resulted in helping everyone. Like Socialism, there was no private property and Teta (the government) took up small funds to distrubute it to the poor to help.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)