Power Point By: Jessica P
oHe was born September 20, 1878 in Baltimore MD
and died November 25, 1968 in a nursing home in NJ
when he was 90 years old.
oWrote about 90 works including:
1. The Jungle (1906)
2. The Lanny Bud Series, which was comprised of 11 books (19401953)
3. Sylvia(1913)
4. The Spy (1920)
5. The Wet Parade (1931)
o Time magazine called him “a man with every gift
except humor and silence.”
o In 1904 he spent 7 weeks in disguise, working
undercover in Chicago's meatpacking plants doing
research
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Jurgis- the main character, young, strong, and family devoted. Has a few
spouts that go against his beliefs and is married to Ona.
Ona- married to Jurgis and is young and beautiful. She is the opposite of
Jurgis, fragile and weak minded and very feminine. She dies while giving
birth to their second child at the age of 18.
Antanas- The son of Jurgis and Ona. He keeps Jurgis alive through a tough
part in their lives by giving him something to live for. He then dies about a
month after his mother by drowning in the street.
Jack Duane- a man that Jurgis met while in prison and got Jurgis into crime
and politics
Phil Connor- The boss at Onas first job and the man that rapes Ona, and
sends Jurgis to jail for the first and third time.
Teta Elizabieta- Onas step mother that travels to America with the family. She
has six living children that she brings with her and keeps the family together.
She is the matriarch
Marija- A cousin of Onas that eventually comes to work in a whore house and
tries to help Jurgis back to his feet after he returns to Chicago.
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Theme: the immigrant experience and the
pursuit of the American dream
Tone: The working class deserves more and the
oppressing bosses are in the wrong
Period written in: early 1900’s (1905-1906)
Language: English
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Time: early 1900’s (1906)
Place: Packingtown, the meat packing section of
Chicago. Then moves to the countryside outside
of Chicago then back to Packingtown.
Onas family decides to move to America after the death
of her father. Jurgis and his father, Dede Antanas come
along because Jurgis loves Ona. Once in America, Ona
and Jurgis get married and search for work. Jurigs got
a job working in the killing beds and Marija got a job
too; as well as Jonas who is Marijas brother. The family
signs an agreement to buy a house and uses all of their
money from their savings to pay the down payment.
They then find out about all of the hidden costs within
the lease and realize that Ona and two of the children
will have to get jobs too. Dede Antanas finds a job a
short while later working in a pickling room but it kills
him quickly. The seasons change and it’s now winter,
which in their poorly built, but expensive, house they
are freezing. Marijas factory that she works in closes
down and she is forced into a depression.
Jurgis was worried about the well being of his family so he
joined a union. While in the union he started to learn some
of the politics of Packingtown and all the corruption in it.
He decided to learn English because he wanted to
understand more of what is being said and believes it will
help him in the working world. Marijas’ factory opens back
up but she is quickly fired because she complained about
the pay. Ona becomes pregnant and with good timing
because Miss Henderson, Onas boss, controls a prostitution
ring and wanted her to join. Once the baby boy is born they
named him Antanas after Jurgis’ father and Ona must
return to work a week later. Jurgis gets hurt on the job right
after Antanas was born and is bed ridden for 3 months
during which time he was replaced at work. Jonas abandons
the family in this time although some believe he was killed
while at work. Jurgis heals after his accident but the factory
would not give his job back to him and after a long search
gets a job in the fertilizer mill; the worst place to work in
Packingtown.
Ona becomes pregnant again and was raped by Phil Connor.
When Jurgis finds out he beats Connor almost to death.
Jurgis is arrested and sent to jail for a month. He makes a
friend in prison named Jack Duane who knows all about the
corruption and politics in Packingtown. When Jurgis gets
out of prison he goes back to his home to find that his family
was evicted and is renting a room in a very run down
boarding house. When he gets to the boarding house he
finds Ona in labor, 2 months premature, and leaves to find a
doctor. When he returns, Ona is barely alive and dies in his
arms, the unborn baby dies too. He goes on a drinking binge
and then gets a job to support his son. He is doing well until
one day he returns home to find the family crying and
Antanas dead. Jurgis abandons the family and wanders into
the countryside and lives off of his last $15 for the remainder
of the season. Winter comes around again and he was forced
to return to Chicago for shelter. He got another job, but
again was hurt on the job and put into the hospital; like
before they wouldn’t give him his job back and Jurgis
becomes a beggar.
One night a wealthy man walks by and brings Jurgis home
with him. He gives him a good meal and a $100 bill. Jurgis
goes to a bartender who cheats him and only gives him 95
cents back as change for a 5 cent drink. He goes to jail again
for fighting the bartender and meets Jack Duane in jail for a
second time. They both get out at about the same time and
Jack introduces Jurgis to the life of crime and politics. While
on a binge one night Jurgis again sees Phil Connor and beats
him. He goes to jail and when he gets out runs into an old
family friend who tells him where to find Marija. Marija is
working in a whorehouse and is addicted to morphine. One
night Jurgis wanders into a socialist rally and believes what
the orator is preaching. Jurgis joins the socialist party and
gets a job at hotel as a porter. He is then reunited with Teta
Elzbieta and the remaining children. He attends another
socialist rally and the orator ends by saying “if more people
convert to socialism, the speaker declares, then “Chicago
will be ours!”
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It was a good book and I would recommend it
to other people. The book was a bit graphic
about how things were being done in the meat
factories but it was necessary to show the
hardships and the terrible working conditions
that the immigrants had to deal with.
P.S. The Jungle hit the national public so hard that it inspired the Pure
Food And Drug Act of 1906