User:Applerun/Austin Draft of The Jungle


 * Jurgis Rudkus,a strong willed Lithuanian who wants a better life for him, his wife Ona, and his friends and family. He hears of all of the wonderful things about America and being free and decides to move there and buy a old house. He has the mentality that he needs to work harder than anyone else, and if he doesn’t, than he will fail his family and friends.


 * Ona Rudkus, a sixteen-year-old, is married to a strong Lithuanian farmer name Jurgis, she had a child named Little Antanas after Dede Antanas, and heard of the great things about America from her husband who had never let her down before. Later in the story while giving birth to a baby that was possibly created by rape from her boss, she died from blood loss while giving birth.


 * Marija Berczynskas, a masculine women, who is Ona’s cousin, her dream was to marry a musician and tour with him around America. After Ona’s death, and Jurgis abandons them, she gave up and became a prostitute to help feed the few children left


 * Grandmother Majauszkiene she is the only other Lithuanian in the Immigrant section of Chicago and tells Jurgis everything about the people and the house that Jurgis is moving into.


 * Little Antanas Rudkus a small boy,otherwise known as “baby” Antanas Rudkus and Jurgis and Ona’s only son, as a toddler, he falls down on an elevated sidewalk and drowns in the deep mud puddle.


 * Tetza Elizibeta, she is Ona’s stepmother, and is not very fond of Jurgis, she mainly takes care of the kids and making sure they come first, she dies of starvation.


 * Jonas, he is Ona’s blood related brother, he couldn’t take the living conditions and leaves the family and ends up in worse conditions, no one knows if he is dead or alive.


 * Stanislovas a young 13 year old boy, he is Tetza Elizibetas only son, he works in one of Durhams factories and get locked in after falling asleep, and gets eaten alive by rats.


 * Dede Antanas Jurgis’s father, he is at a very old age and insists to help Jurgis and the family pay for the house and food, but the working conditions get to hard for him and he dies from a lung infection.


 * Jack Duane a thief that Jurgis meets in prison, they come up with a plan to escape and make it out. After the escape he disappears and flees to another city.


 * Comrade Ostrinski A socialist, when ‘’’Tommy Hinds’’’ gives Jurgis a new job, he tell Jurgis of socialism and what it will do to help the immigrants of Chicago.


 * Tommy Hinds he gives Jurgis a new, better job and is known to treat immigrants fairly.


 * Durham a business man, he is Jurgis’s first employer and takes immigrants and gives them low paying jobs where most of them die because of the horrible working conditions.

Plot
The Jungle starts out with Jurgis Rudkus and his sixteen-year-old bride Ona getting married. They hear of the “joys” of America and wants to enjoy its freedoms. Jurgis, Ona, and their friends and family collect all their money and set off to Chicago. Once they arrive a they find a house in the “ghetto district of Chicago, also known as PackingTown. Another Lithuanian informs them of the poverty and despair the immigrants have been receiving, but Jurgis does not take it into mind and sets off to find a job. Jurgis finds a job with big CEO Durham, at a nearby meat packing plant, but does not realize how bad the conditions are. After injuring himself and being bed-ridden for three months he then realizes America is not what he expected and the family sees and experiences the poverty of Chicago. After Jurgis finds a new job he arrives home one night to find Elzibeta frantically trying to get Jurgis out of the house, but Jurgis over powers her and finds Ona crying in the bed room. After a loud argument Jurgis learns that Ona had been raped by her Irish boss; who had threatened her with her job if she did not do it. Jurgis goes to beat him up and winds up arrested.Jurgis is out of jail and runs to find an Irish family living in his house, and learns from his neighbor that Ona is with family a few blocks away. He gets there to be greeted by frantic screams who are thought to be Onas. Jurgis runs for help but by the next morning the doctor is unable to save Ona’s life or the baby’s life. Jurgis again, runs away   eventually finding  only Onas step-sister Marija skinny and in a pack house hiding from police. She tells him that all the family is dead accept her and a few children who are gone for weeks selling papers. Jurgis, depressed,  meets some people at a Socialist rebellion  and joins the party and the book ends with the encouraging chants of immigrants chanting “Chicago is ours!”

Reception
The Manganui Herald said that “[The Jungle] has saved many immigrants and other Americans [in poverty] from bad working conditions.” The book also caused President Roosevelt to launch a full investigation of all Packing Houses. At the end of the article they praised the novel by saying “Mr. Sinclair has a purpose.”In 1968 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, commented the book by saying “Even after [Mr. Sinclair’s] death, his beliefs still live on,” and added that “The fight started by [Upton] Sinclair still is strong.