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.