American Dream In The Jungle

Following the end of the Gilded Age, various ample corporations would
Through the various events in the novel, The Jungle starts en medias res, during the ceremony of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite’s wedding. As immigrants from Lithuania, their culture invites the people to a veselija, where one could come in, eating and drinking as much as one would like, leaving money so one could cover the cost. Due to the fact that the ceremony was in Packingtown, Chicago, several guests left no money at the end of their feasting, leaving the couple more than one hundred dollars in debt. A reoccuring factor in this novel is the “American Dream” and how at first, Jurgis truly believes in it, promising to work harder in order to bring money back home. The only reason that Ona really marries Jurgis is due to her father, who had died, leaving Ona and her nine other relatives alone, with no income. Due to this disruption …show more content…
Everyone feels cheated by the deal that they made, and Jurgis even went to talk with some lawyers to see if it was a scam. Once they sign, their next door neighbor, Grandmother Majauszkiene, talks to them about the corruption in these houses. Poorly maintained, they trick immigrants into paying a large down payment, knowing they will not be able to keep up the rent monthly. When they find out they have to pay interest on the house, Ona and Stanislovas decided to get jobs, even though he is only thirteen at the time; Ona at a wrapping department and Stanislovas manning a machine. Dede Antanas, Jurgis’s father, is getting worse and worse in his factory job. His shoes have holes from the chemical he is using at work, continuing to walk barefoot along the factory. Due to the polluted chemical air, Antanas dies, and the family is too poor to give him a traditional