Final Blog

      Over the entire semester I have read about 1300 pages. Before i took this class I did not consider myself a great reader. The only books that I remember reading were for school. I would have read every once in a while when I had a lot of free time. The books that I would read would just be some quick reads that would keep me wanting to read the entire time, and not a lot of need for comprehension. I would usually read in my room, either laying on my bed or sitting in my chair. I would usually read because my parents would tell me that I had to read so many pages before I could do something. During the semester I picked books that were quick to read, and also at the same time an interesting book to read. I read all of my books through except for one because it was a little bit boring, and it was a lot of boring talking scenes. I picked out books that I had heard were good books, or I picked out the books because I had heard of them before. The book The Jungle I had heard about that book when studying U.S. history. The first book I read Cat and Mouse i picked that book out because my uncle had told me that it was a good book to read. From the start of the semester to the end of the semester I consider myself a better reader, and now I actually do not mind sitting down and reading a good book. 

The Jungle page 301-357

         Both Jurgis and Marija are set free from jail. Jurgis gets set free because he said he just went to the brothel to go and see his sister. While Marija has been set free because the madam of the brothel had paid for her release. Marija also tells Jurgis that she is addicted to morphine, and she also says that many of the prostitutes are addicted to something. Marija gives Jurgis the address where Teta Elzbieta is staying along with the rest of their family. Jurgis spends the day looking for work, but he finds his way into a socialist political meeting. Jurgis believes that this is the party for him because Jurgis feels as if this party represents him. After the speech Jurgis talks to Ostrinski, a socialist that can speak Lithuanian. This man tells Jurgis that the larger economic class the poor and impoverished cannot work together because most of them are ignorant. The socialist also explains how the wage earners only have their labor to sell so that it is harder to find a good wage that most desperate workers would take. The man also says that the socialism system is a "new religion." He also states that socialism is a worldwide movement because one nation will rise up and crush the weaker one. Jurgis then goes to visit Teta Elzbieta and Jurgis informs her about socialism. Jurgis then finds a job at a hotel that pays thirty dollars a month. Jurgis finds out that his boss Tommy Hinds is a well-known speaker for the socialist party. Jurgis takes up spreading socialism with great joy, and he starts reading and learning all about the political and economic systems in America. Jurgis then tries to get Marija to leave prostitution, however she cannot because she is addicted to morphine. The socialists want to create a public ownership of the meatpacking plants so that they can eliminate the inefficiency of production. The socialists were encouraged to keep fighting for the well being of their economic class, they would chant "Chicago will be ours."

            I thought that it was weird how even in this time period there was a strong use of different drugs, like morphine. I also thought that it was a little ironic how Jurgis happened to stumble onto a socialist meeting. Also, Jurgis was going to sleep through the mans speech however, the lady woke him up and he was able to listen to the rest of the speech. Also how Jurgis' boss just happened to be a well renown socialist leader. I also thought that it was unfortunate how Marija could not leave her life as a prostitute because she was addicted to morphine.

The Jungle page 251-300

        Jurgis tries to get change for his one hundred dollar bill, by taking it to a bar. The bartender tells Jurgis that he has to buy a drink first in order to get change. Jurgis buys a  drink for five cents and the bartender gives Jurgis 95 cents in change. Jurgis attacks the bartender because he was cheated, and he was later arrested and sentenced to jail for ten days. After being in jail Jurgis then thinks that it would be a good idea to turn to a life of crime. He and a man named Jack Duane mug a well dressed man, and Jurgis gets 55 dollars from this. However Jurgis worries about what happens to his victims, because the wealthy man lost a finger to frostbite while unconscious. Jurgis then becomes a member of a vote buying group where he helps corrupt politicians in Packingtown. Jurgis helps out the Republican candidate, and Jurgis brings in numerous immigrant workers into the polls. After the Republican gets elected Jurgis earns three hundred dollars. There was a big strike in Packingtown so then Jurgis is urged to become a scab and work while he can at the factories. Jurgis then runs into Phil Connor again and attacks him again, this later leads to Jurgis' arrest. After Jurgis is arrested he pays his bail and then leaves town. Jurgis is now out of  a job and he can't find any work because the strike has just ended in Packingtown. He is out on the streets again begging for money just to spend a night in a warm bed. The Jurgis runs into someone that he had known from the first years he was in Packingtown. This lady gives Jurgis the address that Marija and Teta Elzbieta are working. Soon after arriving their is a police raid on the building and Jurgis discovers the building is a brothel. He talks to Marija about the family just before he gets arrested again.

       I thought that it was a little bit funny how the bartender tried to trick Jurgis out of one hundred dollars by giving him 95 cents in change for a five cent drink. I also think that it is weird how many times Jurgis gets thrown into jail during his stay in the United States. I also think that it is ironic how Jurgis earns a lot of money, thinks that he will keep earning this money so he spends it all on alcohol, and then he loses his job. Jurgis also needs to control his anger, because he had a good job in a meat packing factory when he attacked Phil and then thrown in jail, causing him to lose his job.

The Jungle page 201-250

        Jurgis begins to look for a job in Packingtown, but soon realizes that he has been blacklisted by Phil Connor. Jurgis soon runs into a man that was from his union, this man shows Jurgis to a factory that produces harvesting machines. The foreman at this factory gives Jurgis a job, the working conditions here are much better than his previous jobs. However Jurgis' job and his department have been closed intill further notice. One day Teta Elzbieta's son is in a dump looking for food when a wealthy woman finds him. She then ventures to their boarding house with him, and writes a letter of recommendation for Jurgis at a steel mill. Jurgis gets a job at the steel mill, but it is too far away to travel home everyday. One day when he arrives at the boardinghouse he discovers that his son Antanas has drowned in the mud of the streets. Jurgis filled with grief and emotion from the death of his son, gets onto the nearest traincar and rides it into the country. After leaving the train, Jurgis runs into a farmer that sells him dinner and allows Jurgis to sleep in the barn for the night. Jurgis is offered a job from this farmer but he turns it down because it will not last year long. Jurgis returns to Chicago because of the cold weather, and he gets a job digging underground tunnels. He is confident that he will have this job for a long time, so he spends all of his money on alcohol. Unfortunately Jurgis breaks his arm and has to spend Christmas in the hospital. One night while begging in the streets Jurgis finds a man named Freddie Jones and Freddie invites Jurgis into house for a meal. During their meal Jurgis finds out that Freddie is related to the owner of the factory that Jurgis worked at first.

        Jurgis throughout this entire book experiences good luck and also bad luck. The good luck is that he finds a job at the steel mill and how he runs into Freddie Jones, a very renown man in Packing town. Some of the bad luck is how he was blacklisted inside of Packingtown. Another example of bad luck was how he broke his arm on the job for working for the underground tunnels. The worst of his bad luck was when he realized that his son had just drowned in the mud.

The jungle pg 151-200

     During the next season of winter, the family are working 15-16 hour work days. Ona explains to Jurgis that she does not come home after work because the snow drifts are so bad, that she has to stay with a friend over night. Jurgis does not believe her, so he gets a confession out of her. Ona says that her boss at the factory has been harassing her, and wanting Ona to become his mistress. Ona also said that her boss raped her after everyone had gone home, and she said that he threatened to get everyone in her household out of work. Jurgis then goes into Ona's workplace, and beats up the boss. Jurgis is eventually taken away to the police station and arrested. In Jail he realizes that it is Christmas Eve, and he begins to cry, knowing that his family will be spending Christmas without him. During Jurgis' trial, Phil Connor testifies that Jurgis attacked him out of rage because Phil fired Ona. Jurgis is then sentenced to thirty days in jail. Jurgis then realizes that his entire family has lost their jobs, and the only money they earn is from begging and the children selling papers. After being released from prison, Jurgis discovers a new family living in his home, and comes to learn that his family has been evicted. Jurgis then travels to the boarding house where his family is now living. Once in the boarding house, he hears Ona screaming and discovers she has gone into premature labor. Jurgis goes to find a midwife, to help Ona give birth. After finding one, he then goes to a saloon because they say that he will only be in the way. At four in the moring Jurgis returns to the boarding house, and he discovers that the baby is dead, and Ona is dying. Jurgis rushes to she her, and Ona looks at him for a moment and then dies.

           I thought that this part of the book had some really unlucky things that happened to this family, especially to Jurgis. First Jurgis finds out that his wife has been getting raped by her boss. Then Jurgis gets thrown in jail  because he beats this man up. Then Jurgis' entire family loses their jobs because they are too weak to work, and because of the bad weather. Then after Jurgis gets out of jail, his wife dies and his newborn baby also dies. This would be an extremely stressful time in Jurgis' life with all of these bad events going on in his life.

Poetry Selection

Theme: Winter

London Snow by Robert Bridges

The soldier and the snow by Miguel Hernadez

Minnesota Ice Train by J.P white

January Drought by connor o'callaghan     *poetry video*

Winter Stars by Larry Levis

Last Snow by Heid E. Erdrich

Grieve not by Walter Clyde Curry

The jungle 116-150

           The Packingtown laborers are worked at an ever greater speed only to see their wages cut numerous times.  Marija opens a bank account for her savings. One day there was a rush of people to withdraw funds from the bank, because there was a large crowd watching a police officer arresting a drunk man. The big crowd caused people to get frantic and they went to withdraw their funds. Jurgis sprains his ankle and cannot return to work for almost three months. The frustration eats away at him and he often vents his bitterness upon his family. Stanislovas suffers frostbite in his hands, and the first joints on his fingers are permanently damaged. Jurgis often has to beat Stanislovas in order to make him go to work on snowy mornings. Teta Elzbieta’s youngest child, Kristoforas, dies after eating bad meat. Marija loans Teta Elzbieta the money to pay for a real funeral because Jurgis refuses to help. In the spring, Jurgis looks unsuccessfully for work. He is worn out and unable to attract the boss’s eye. He settles for the least desirable job around, a position in a fertilizer mill. The chemicals seep into his skin, making him smell as foul as the muck itself. During the summer Teta Elzbieta takes a job in a sausage factory. The bad working conditions wear on Teta Elzbieta’s health she must stand and perform the same repetitive motion for hours and hours. Jurgis and his family know all of the dirty secrets of the meat-packing industry. The most spoiled of meats becomes sausage. All manner of dishonesty exists in the industry’s willingness to sell diseased, rotten, and adulterated meat to American households. Antanas suffers various childhood illnesses, and the measles attack him. Ona, pregnant again, develops a bad cough.

            The part of this section when there is a mad rush for the citizens of packingtown to withdraw their funds, because this could cause the bank to become bankrupt. This would be very unfortunate for those who are unable to withdraw their funds, because it no longer exists. I think that it was bad how Jurgis sprangs his ankle, because he is the one in the family that has always been working in the United States, and he is their main source of income. I also thought that it was bad how all of these people like Kritoforas are dying from the bad meat.