Chapters 14-20: The Jungle

After going to a slaughterhouse myself, I greatly sympathize with all that Jurgis must see and deal with every day. It is absolutely brutal and I honestly could never work there myself. I am not surprised he beat up his wife's boss with such force and anger because he sees animals senselessly killed every day. How does that not affect one's mindset?

The beating of his boss leads to his imprisionment and deterioration of his family. He is not able to be with his family or provide for them as he so desperately desires. All he was searching for was the American Dream when he moved, unfortunately that does not happen. Sinclair displays the negative effects of capitalism through the tribulations Jurgis and his family face in The Jungle. All of Jurgis's hard work cannot even come close to the advancement in pursuit of the American Dream. It is extremely apparent to me that the more Jurgis tries to progress with success, the lower he drops emotionally and financially. His family is slowly broken event by event and he drowns his sorrows at the bar. Sinclair proves the hidden destruction of the American Dream as everything seems to fall apart as one pursues such an ideal.

I think this is sad that Jurgis cannot seem to catch a break. All he wants is to provide a nice life for him and his family, but everything that could go wrong does. I don’t know if I could even get past the idea of working his job, and then on top of that all the other factors in his life that are not going well either.