Life Of Immigrants In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

The Jungle is a novel written by Upton Sinclair. The book portrays the life of immigrants during the late 1900s. Specifically focusing on the story of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite and relatives, who immigrated from Lithuania to Chicago in search for a better and successful life. Shortly after arriving, Jurgis and Ona had a wedding feast in which they were left in one-hundred dollars of debt after the guest did not donate money to help cover the costs, which was a Lithuanian tradition. Then the family settled in Packingtown, which was the central place for Lithuanian immigrants and of the meatpacking industry in Chicago. Jurgis was determined to find a job so that he could support his family, and so he became known to say “I will work harder”.

Winter was extreme in Packingtown and the family members endured much distress. Meanwhile, Jurgis joined a union only to discover that biased opinions, politics, and money is what Packingtown depended on. The family then underwent more despair by loss of jobs, family members, income, and dignity. For example, Jurgis had an ankle injury which caused him to have to stay in bed for three months. Later, Ona was made to sleep with her boss and enraged, Jurgis attacked him. Jurgis was sent to jail after an unfair trial. Once released, he discovered that his family had lost their house and were living in a poor boarding house. In addition, Ona gave premature child birth which resulted in her and the child dying. This tragedy was too much for Jurgis to handle and he resorted to drinking. Most of the remaining of the story, Jurgis was in and out of jobs and jail. He became completely disconnected with his family and was even involved in some criminal activity. At the ending of the novel, Jurgis becomes revived after entering into a socialist party. The party believed that factories and companies should belong to the people that actually