The Jungle chapters 29-31

After the meeting ends, Jurgis finds the speaker resting amid a crowd of people. He asks for more information about the party, and the speaker directs him to Ostrinski, a socialist who speaks Lithuanian. Ostrinski takes Jurgis to his home. So they share stories and Ostrinski starts to explain about communism and how great it is and that it is the worlds new religion and blah blah blah communism. Jurgis visits Teta Elzbieta to tell her about socialism. She is happy to hear that he wishes to work and help support the family. She even agrees to attend socialist political meetings with him from time to time. Jurgis finds a job as a porter in a small hotel that pays thirty dollars a month plus board. Ostrinski informs Jurgis that his new boss, Tommy Hinds, is actually a state organizer for the socialist party and a well-known socialist speaker. Hinds is overjoyed to find that Jurgis is a comrade. Jurgis takes up the socialist cause with a passion. He endeavors to read newspapers, including The Appeal to Reason, and learn all about the political and economic systems of power in America. He becomes angry and frustrated when he cannot sway people to socialism. Jurgis attempts to persuade Marija to leave prostitution, but she explains that she cannot because she is addicted to morphine. She plans to remain a prostitute for the rest of her life. Jurgis attends a meeting with a magazine editor who opposes socialism but has agreed to listen to some proponents of the movement. Jurgis's role is to detail the unsanitary conditions under which meat is packed and sold to the public. Nicholas Schliemann, a fierce socialist, explains that the movement wishes to enact public ownership of the means of production. Once the inefficiency of production is eliminated through science and eradication of graft, no worker will be obliged to labor for countless hours a day merely to survive. He can work as little as two hours a day and devote the rest of his time to his personal interests. The basic goals of socialism are “common ownership and democratic management of the means of producing the necessities of life.” The means to bring about this revolution is to raise the class consciousness of the proletariat around the world through political organization. Later, the socialist party achieves phenomenal victories in the elections across the country. A spirited speaker at a political meeting urges socialists to continue fighting because the victory is not yet won, encouraging them with the words, “Chicago will be ours!”
This is the end of the book and hopefully this blogging, but do still be expecting some more blogs from me on my thoughts of the book, I will also be answering the questions you ask.

The Jungle chapter 28

The madam of the brothel pays Marija's fine and the prostitutes are set free. The judge lets Jurgis go without penalty because Jurgis says that he had gone merely to visit his sister, whew, for once things look good. He gave a fake name, and noone noticed him as Connors attacker. Marija later says that she is a morphine addict. Most of the prostitutes, she tells Jurgis, are addicted to something. Marija gives Jurgis Teta Elzbieta's address and urges him to stay with her and her remaining children. Jurgis doesn't want to see her until he gets a job because he feels guilty for leaving them after Antanas died. Jurgis looks for more work. He eats dinner and, while walking the streets, chances upon a political meeting. He enters the hall to sit and rest, he thinks about how Elzbieta will accept him. A well-dressed woman calls him “comrade” and urges him to listen to the speech. No one tries to throw him out for sleeping. Jurgis listens to the speech; he has wandered into a socialist political meeting. Jurgis relates to the commies speech and starts to like it.

The Jungle chapter 27

Jurgis begins begging for a job, but it sucks because he can't really find one in his most desparate time, and whats even worse is that because he was used to actually having money he was not used to be homeless again. Well, he gets a job...but gets fired right away because he is weak. Winter approaches, and election time arrives again. He attends a political meeting where he can stay warm, but a policeman throws him out after he falls asleep and begins to snore. While begging for the price of a night's stay, Jurgis sees someone he used to know. She does not have any money with her, but she gives him Marija's address. She urges Jurgis to visit her and Teta Elzbieta. She assures him that they will be happy to see him. Jurgis hurries to see Marija. When he enters the building, the police poop the party. Jurgis realizes that it is a brothel. Jurgis sees Marija, and they manage to talk a bit before the police herd them into the police station. Marija explains that neither she nor Teta Elzbieta could support the children with jobs. She adds that, moreover, Stanislovas died: he fell asleep in the storeroom of an oil factory and a swarm of rats attacked him and killed him. Marija then chose to go into prostitution in order to keep the rest of the family from starvation. She assures Jurgis that they never blamed him for running away and that they know that he did his best. The knowledge of Marija's shame and Stanislovas's horrible death haunts Jurgis throughout the night, which he spends in jail.

The Jungle chapters 25-26 part 2

Jurgis keeps his job as a hog trimmer. In May, the unions and the packers clash and a huge strike begins. Scully, the guy that got him into the whole politics mess, denounces the packers in the papers, so Jurgis asks for another job while he strikes with the rest. Scully tells him to be a scab and make as much as he can out of it. Jurgis argues for a wage of three dollars a day and receives it. The packers hire all of the thugs in the city and import scabs from all over the country, including a significant number of southern blacks. Jurgis is offered a position as a boss on the killing beds. The packers are desperate to provide fresh meat in order to keep public opinion from turning against them. Jurgis receives a higher wage and the promise that he will have the job after the strike. Nevertheless, the packers feel pressure from the public to settle. They reach an agreement with the union, but the packers break their promise to not discriminate against union leaders. In response, the workers return to striking. During the storm of debauchery that follows, Jurgis comes face to face with Phil Connor in Packingtown. Without thinking, he viciously attacks Connor. Jurgis calls Harper from his jail cell only to discover that Connor is one of Scully's favorites. Harper can do nothing for him except get his bail lowered so that Jurgis can pay it. He advises Jurgis to skip town. Jurgis pays his bail, which leaves him with less than four dollars, and he travels to the other end of Chicago. The end of part two. I'm very sorry if this was boring, I wrote a really good one before but my computer is being a major henderence and is no joke bringing me on the verge of insanity because it had deleted everthing I wrote on this posting, and this is not the first time at all of it doing so. So I ashamely admit having copied and pasting sparknotes and changed around a few things from that, I hope you can understand though for my reasoning.

The Jungle chapters 25-26

Well, last time we left with Jurgis getting $100 dollars, and he can't do much with it without raising suspicion. Well, he tries to exchange it anyways at a saloon, but instead he gets duped by the bartender and loses all but 95 cents of it. He gets angry and attacks the bartender. He gets arrested...AGAIN! 10 days with costs in jail. Jurgis sees Jack Duane in prison and agrees to see him afterwards. He ends up thinking that a life of crime is the only way to live life. So, Jurgis gets out of jail and goes for his first mugging with jack, he gets some good money. Later he hears about what happened to the guy they mugged and worries, but after a while he stops to worry about the victims. Jurgis is now affiliated with the Chic ago underground because of his actions with Jack. Soon, while breaking a safe Jack gets caught and released, but because it creates a big uproar the criminal associates just deny him and Jack runs. Next Jurgis gets in to the corrupt politics and says he will support a Republican candidate. He gets a job and starts working for the candidate. The candidate gets office and Jurgis gets a lot of money, and of course, he spends it on beer. End of part one

The jungle chapters 25-26

Der Dschungel pg. 250-300

Well, Antanas has died. All Jurgis can do is look at her body and try to hide from reality. Well, all these problems are getting to him and are driving him emotionally crazy. To hide he gets on a railroad car and rides to the country where he gets out because it in a way revives him. Out there he washes up and everything, then he goes to a farmer and tries to buy food from him, but the farmer denies him calling Jurgis a "tramp". To return the favor Jurgis, trying to find more food, rips up a lot of the farmers young peach trees. He does end up finding a farmer that sells him food, this farmer also offers Jurgis work, but Jurgis declines it because it doesn't go into the winter. Well, for a while Jurgis continues to wonder through the country making by with doing work for farmers stealing, and foraging. The money he makes though is used in wrong ways, for alcohol and women. Right now my emotions are really feeling sad. When reading his whole new personality and view on life all I can think about is just how much he has changed, it started with him being really happy, but now he just doesn't care. I also think of Elzbeta during this, I mean, has he just forgotten about her? Well, those are my thoughts, but back to the story. When winter starts to come Jurgis goes back to town to get a job for winter there and to avoid the cold. He gets a job digging underground tunnels, but Jurgis keeps spending his earnings on alcohol. He breaks his arm in an accident and goes to the hospital where they kick him out after a few weeks. From there he goes to these religious revival sessions just for shelter, but doesnt really like them. This winter was a bad one to have lost his job though, there was very little opportunity, and it was tough to find shelter. While begging Jurgis meets a guy called Freddie Jones that offers him dinner, Freddie also pays for the cab and gives the change to Jurgis, but the crazy thing was that he paid with a hundred dollar bill. After finding out that this guy is the son of his first employer Freddie goes to sleep and the butler kicks Jurgis out. Thats all for now, I hope you enjoyed it and stayed tuned for The Jungle pages 300-350!