Mackendrick, Study Guide The Jungle, Eng.

11A

The Jungle, Upton Sinclair (Chaps. 19 thru 22) Chap. 19: Jurgis search for a midwife to help leads him to Madame Haupt, who is reluctant to help because he doesnt have enough money. After much deliberation, he is angry frustrated, and about to leave, and she gives in agreeing to help. Once he arrives home the women begin to focus on Ona, telling Jurgis to leave them. When returns he finds the baby dead and Ona dying. Going to her side, she opens her eyes for a last look him, and then she dies. Jurgis is in shocked and speechless, later Kortina arrives home from her job selling newspapers, then he takes her money and announces that hes going out to get drunk. Chap. 20: Jurgis doesnt have enough money to stay drunk for too long, and returns to the widows house. Elzbieta has begged enough money to hold a funeral mass for Ona. Elzbieta convinces Jurgis to find a job for the sake of baby Antenas, but is refused even at the fertilizer plant. Finally, he is offered a job, but when he gets there he discovers that he has been blacklisted. Weeks go by and Jurgis is still unemployed, by chance he meets a former union associate who leads him to a gives him new hope of a job in the harvester works. This encourages Jurgis good fortune, only to be laid off ten days later. Recognizing his responsibilities as a father, Jurgis sees his son Antenas as his main reason to live. Working outside the city seems like and ideal situation because conditions are better there. When he gets laid off he once again sees that the capitalist system doesnt care for its employees, as much as it cares for its profits. Chap 21: Jurgis leaves the family looking for work, his hopes are to a job, but in truth he is fighting to stay alive. He travels the region staying at settlements (places where out of work people rally, come together live on the road while looking for work). Jurgis meets Elzbietas son, and through him acquires a letter of reference introducing him to the superintendent of a steel mill where Jurgis might find work. The steel mill is far away and Jurgis will have to stay at a lodging house during the week, returning home only on the weekends to see his family and son. An accident at the mill forces Jurgis to miss time at work, but on the other hand, Jurgis spends extra time with his son. Spring time approaches, both Marija and Elzbieta are working, and Jurgis can only think of preparing for next winter; times are hard again. One rainy Saturday Jurgis returns home to find out that his son, Antenas (named for Jurgis own father) has had accidentally drowned. This marks a turning point in the story, just when the family seems to be back on track and hope is just ahead, another tragedy happens. There is a literary irony to the point that Antenas; the young man dies in spring, the season of renewal. Chap 22: Jurgis is so thrown by the accidental death of Antenas he becomes a professional tramp. He impulsively hops on a freight train, running away from pressures, tragedy, and fear. At first he buys food, later when he runs out, he has a confrontation with a farmer who turns him away for begging. For the most part, being on the road helps Jurgis forget his problems and his family, but the sight of a mother bathing her young son, throws Jurgis into an emotional break down. We see how the change in environment symbolizes a change in Jurgis, one example is that he is able to take a bath and remove the fertilizer stench from his body. The bath is a symbolic baptism, signifying new life. The irony displayed is that Jurgis soon learns that dishonesty and corruption exist out in the country as well as in the cities.

Mackendrick, Quiz The Jungle, Eng. 11AP

The Jungle, Upton Sinclair (Quiz Chaps. 19 thru 22)