Auth Comp A
The Jungle
Chapter Summaries
Because we received the books so late we are not going to be able to read the novel The Jungle in its entirety. In instead of having you
read the entire novel, I have selected some chapters for you to read and answer questions for. The chapters you will be responsible for
reading are 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, and 31. You must read and answer the chapter questions. I have also
provided chapter summaries for the chapters that are skipped.
Chapter Summaries:
Ch. 1: Ona and Jurgis’s wedding introduces the reader to Lithuanian traditions. Their ―acsiavimas‖ or guest donations fail miserably
leaving the couple in debt, symbolizing the bitter struggle of their impoverished people.
Ch. 4: Things are looking up for the family as Jurgis, Jonas, and Marija all get jobs right away, but Jurgis’ father is considered to old to
work. They decide to buy a house, though Szedvilas warns them about swindlers and they do not fully understand the contract.
Ch. 6: Ona takes a job hoping to support the wedding. The family finds out their house is 15 years old, not brand new, as they had
thought, it was made with cheap materials for which they overpaid, and the rent is higher than they expected because they did not know
about interest on the mortgage. If they miss one payment, they will be put on the street, just as four families before them experienced.
Stansislovas, Elzbieta’s oldest son, is forced to find work.
Ch. 8: Marija’s hopes of marriage to Tamoszius are shattered as the canning factory where she works closes unexpectedly. Jurgis feels
discouraged and powerless at his job until a co-worker introduces him to the basics of trade unions. He begins attending meetings and
discovers a new form of brotherhood.
Ch. 11: Things look better for the family, momentarily as summer returns Jurgis works consistently, and Marija has become a skilled
beef trimmer. She begins dreaming of marriage again, and invests her money in a bank, as do Jurgis and Ona. Jurgis learns that the Beef
Trust controls the entire region keeping wages low and output high. He is also paid half a week’s wages to sell his vote. When winter
returns, Jurgis successfully carries both Ona and Stanislovas to work through a blizzard, but then twists his ankle avoiding a runaway
steer at his own job. He is unable to work, and the company takes no responsibility and offers no compensation. Jurgis’ son is the only
happy thing in his life.
Ch. 13: One of Elzbieta’s sons dies, and with Jurgis out of work, there is no money for a funeral. She has to beg for money to bury her
son. In his desperation, Jurgis gets a job at the fertilizer plant in town where he breathes in bone dust and ammonia fumes, shoveling
fertilizer into carts. No one can stand his stench. Elzbieta must then find a job (tending a sausage machine) so her other two sons can go
to school instead of running wild in the streets, leaving the 13-year old Kotrina to care for the house, her crippled brother, and Jurgis’s
son Antanas.
Ch. 16-17: On Christmas Eve, Jurgis is sent to a filthy, vermin infested jail to await trial, and frets over the helpless demise of his
family. His cellmate, a thief, describes Packingtown’s criminal underground. At his trial, Jurgis attempts to defend himself, but the
corrupt judge immediately dismisses his faltering English. He is sentenced to 30 days in prison plus court costs. When Stanislovas visits
Jurgis in prison he sobbingly updates the status of the family and asks for money: Ona is very sick, Marija has badly injured her hand
and cannot work, Elzbieta’s sausage department has closed, Stanislovas lost his job because Conner (the man Jurgis attacked) is friends
with his boss, Kotrina and the boys are all selling newspapers downtown, and there is no money for food, coal, or rent. Crushed, Jurgis
gives Stanislovas all the money he has – fourteen cents.
Ch. 20: After drowning his sorrows in alcohol, Jurgis returns to Aniele’s to mourn Ona. He eventually decides to ―be a man‖ and find a
way to support his family, most of all, his son, the only piece of Ona he has left. After trying to find work everywhere in Packingtown,
the men in the saloons explain that he has been permanently banned because of his attack on Conner. Marija, Elzbieta, and the children
stay with Aniele in Packingtown, starving and barely making rent, while Jurgis wanders the streets downtown, begging for work and
sleeping in the cold. Every prospect of employment vanishes before Jurgis’ desperate grasp.
Ch. 22: In his grief, Jurgis jumps onto a passing train, and travels around the countryside, working temporary jobs, regaining his health
and spirit. He is troubled, however, by thoughts of his lost son and wife. He decides to return to Packingtown.
Ch. 23: At his new job building tunnels, Jurgis becomes seriously injured. He stays two weeks in the hospital, then is forced to leave.
Unable to work, he has to beg to survive, and spends any money in the bars seeking warmth, food, and companionship.
Ch. 25: When he tries to change the gift from Jones in a bar, the bartender steals it, so Jurgis attacks him. The police do not believe his
story, so they take him to jail and the judge gives him 10 days plus court costs. In jail he reunites with criminal Jack Duane who gets him
involved in petty crime, gambling, and with the corrupt Democratic party. Harper, Mike Scully’s henchman, hires Jurgis to gather votes
for the Republican candidate in a scheme to benefit Scully.
Ch. 29: After the speech is over, Jurgis makes his way backstage to meet the speaker. The speaker, recognizing Jurgis’ desire to learn
more, introduces Jurgis to Comrade Ostrinski. Ostrinski shares his own experiences and history as he takes Jurgis back to his own house.
Ostrinski explains socialism to Jurgis from the point of view of a workingman. From both Ostrinski and party literature, Jurgis is able to
make meaning out of his Packingtown experiences and sees socialism as the light—as the only means of salvation for all people.
Ch. 30: With his newfound faith and fire, Jurgis goes to see Elzbieta. She is not interested in his politics but notices the spark of industry
in his eyes and tolerates his rhetoric. Soon Jurgis finds a job as a porter at a hotel, a hotel that, coincidentally, is a political hotbed of
socialism. The proprietor of the hotel, Tommy Hinds, and his staff educate Jurgis and others in the ways and means of socialism.
Gradually, socialism becomes the root of Jurgis’ existence.
CHAPTER 2
1. Based on events in Chapter 2, what kind of person does Jurgis seem to be?
2. Why did Jurgis’s and Ona’s family decide to go to America?
3. How do they first encounter dishonesty?
4. What difficult experiences did they have in Lithuania, and how did they expect them to improve in America? What are
their expectations for their new life in America?
5. List all the adjectives on page 29 that describe the Chicago they saw. How is the quote ―the color of things became dingier‖
symbolic of their experience thus far?
6. Describe the neighborhoods of Packingtown.
7. Describe the significance of the words ―blood red‖ and ―fire‖ in the final description of Chapter 2.
CHAPTER 3
1. What are Jurgis’s expectations for his new job?
2. What are the ―metaphors of human destiny‖ described on page 37? How is this metaphor continued on page 40?
3. What is the hog-squeal of the universe?
4. What is the purpose of the government inspector? Describe him.
5. What is Jurgis’s impression of the meat packing industry? What is yours?
CHAPTER 5
1. Describe the reality of this statement: ―the zeal of the people, to see that his health and happiness were provided for.‖ (57)
2. What is the purpose of advertising today? How does it compare to the advertisements described on pages 57 and 58?
3. The family is learning about credit in America. Explain the system and how it compares to the process of making large
purchases in our country today.
4. How does Jurgis feel about his job? How does it compare to how the other men feel about their work?
5. How are unions explained to Jurgis? What is his perception of the unions?
6. Why is Antanas having difficulty getting a job?
7. Describe graft.
8. How does Tamoszius explain the pecking order of the industry to Jurgis?
9. How well is a good work ethic rewarded at the packing plants? How are the strong, hard-working employees treated?
10. What transformation is taking place in the family as they work and witness events around them? How is their ―faith in
America‖ slowly being shattered?
CHAPTER 7
1. Describe the difficulties the family is encountering.
2. What are some of their health issues?
3. What happens to Antanas and why?
4. Explain the comparisons between nature and Packingtown that appear on pages 81 and 82.
5. Describe the winter in Packingtown and how it affects the people, at work and otherwise.
6. What did Stanislovas witness and what effect did it have on him?
7. How were the men ―forced‖ to drink, and how does this further their demise?
8. Describe the imagery of cold as it appears at the end of this chapter.
9. Explain the dichotomy of marriage and death in this chapter. How are these events juxtaposed?
CHAPTER 9
1. What differences does the union make in Jurgis?
2. According to Jurgis how is America the same as Russia?
3. Explain Jurgis’s role in elections. Does he understand what he is taking part in? What exactly is he taking part in?
4. Explain the political system in Chicago at that time.
5. Who is Mike Scully?
6. Describe the corruption presented in this chapter.
7. Describe the health issues outlined in this chapter. Do you think this was unique to Durham’s? Explain.
CHAPTER 10
1. What financial difficulties is the family now facing?
2. Describe the perils brought by the summertime and heat.
3. What social class does Jurgis belong to? What criteria determine the class system?
4. What are the disadvantages of union membership?
5. Describe Marija’s disillusionment.
6. What does it mean, ―Ona was to be confined before long‖?
7. Why did Ona’s boss and co-workers dislike her?
8. How are the packinghouses like chattel slavery?
9. What effect did childbirth have on Ona?
CHAPTER 12
1. What are the results of Stanislovas getting caught in the snow with Ona?
2. What has happened to Jonas? What is the effect on the family?
3. Describe the work experience of Vilimas and Nikalojus. What values do they learn at their work? From whom do they
learn the ―ins and outs‖ of their trade?
4. What is Jurgis’s experience returning to work?
5. Summarize the description of the demise of the working man.
CHAPTER 14
1. What food issues are described in this chapter?
2. Why was Elzbieta’s insensibility considered a gift?
3. ―They had played the game and they had lost.‖ (138) Explain this statement.
4. How and why had Jurgis discovered drink? Describe his constant battle with it. What does he blame his difficulties on?
5. Describe Ona at the end of the chapter.
6. What jungle metaphor describes Jurgis at the end of this chapter? How does this characterization of Jurgis contribute to
the feeling that he is now a victim and no longer has control of his life?
CHAPTER 15
1. What is Ona’s present state of mind? What does Jurgis think about her?
2. How does Ona cause alarm in the house one night?
3. What does Jurgis discover about Ona, and how does he come to discover it?
4. What is his reaction when Ona finally tells him the truth?
5. What do you believe were Ona’s options, faced with her situation?
CHAPTER 18
1. As Jurgis re-enters the city, it is black rather than white with snow. What is the significance of this?
2. What things does Jurgis discover as he reaches his house?
3. What is the situation at Aniele’s?
CHAPTER 19
1. What happens at Aniele’s, and what effect does it have on Jurgis?
CHAPTER 21
1. Who is the lady who comes to see Elzbieta? Why does she come, and what does she do for the family?
2. What is Jurgis’s role as father?
3. Jurgis once again feels hope and is once again dealt a blow. What has happened?
CHAPTER 24
1. What is civilization, according to Jurgis? Is his world civilized? Explain.
2. Describe the adventure of Jurgis’s life.
3. What are some of the things that he sees and experiences for the first time on his adventure?
4. What do you believe is the purpose of this chapter?
CHAPTER 26
1. What do we learn of Elzbieta and her family?
2. What is the Beef Strike, and how did it happen?
3. How does the press become involved in the events of the strike?
4. Who is the ―new American hero,‖ and why is he considered such?
5. What exciting news does Jurgis receive?
6. What kind of racism exists in Chicago at this time?
7. What are the working conditions for scabs? How do they compare to those for regular workers?
8. Why does a second strike quickly ensue?
9. Summarize the descriptions of the city and its inhabitants.
10. Jurgis has now become what he had despised. How did this happen?
CHAPTER 27
1. What are Jurgis’s new standards of living, and how are they a handicap to him?
2. In light of his situation, why didn’t Jurgis leave the city,?
3. What experience almost broke Jurgis’s heart?
4. Jurgis’s encounter with Connor is referred to as an unfortunate accident; he reflects on his luck when thrown out in the
rain; he tells an old friend that he’s had hard luck. 5, Is this how you would characterize recent events?
6. What happens when Jurgis goes looking for Marija?
7. What are Marija’s living arrangements?
8. What news does she have about Tamoszius, Stanislovas, and the rest of the family? Marija feels that Ona could have made
enough money for all of them and should have been allowed to do so. Does Jurgis agree? How can you tell? Do you agree?
CHAPTER 28
1. What explanation does Marija give for how women get caught up in prostitution?
2. Do Marija and the others blame Jurgis for leaving them? Does he think that he is to blame?
3. What are Jurgis’s apprehensions about going to see Elzbieta?
4. What are the main points of the speech that Jurgis attends? What parts of the speech arouse Jurgis’s interest?
CHAPTER 31
1. When Jurgis goes to Marija, does her response to him surprise you? Explain.
2. How does Jurgis keep his life interesting?
3. What is Schliemann’s opinion of marriage? Do you agree?
4. What is the battle between the red and the black?
5. What are the references to religion in this chapter? To what extent do you agree or disagree?
6. What is Schliemann’s vision of society’s future? Do you think it is practical?
7. What evils should not exist in a Socialist society? Why are they considered to be evil?
8. What are some of the inventions and discoveries that Schliemann envisions? How realistic are they?
9. Describe the ending of the book. How satisfying and/or appropriate do you believe the ending to be?