Elzbieta Rudkus

Jurgis Rudkus

Elzbieta is Ona's stepmother and Jurgis's mother-in-law, a matriarch who depends on Jurgis but also burdens him with her children.

Ona Rudkus

Elzbieta is Ona's stepmother, caring for her but also relying on her labor and marriage to Jurgis for the family's survival.

Marija Berczynskas

Elzbieta and Marija are aunt and niece, bound by blood and mutual dependence as they struggle to keep their family together.

Marija Berczynskas

Elzbieta and Marija are aunt and niece, bound by blood and mutual dependence as they struggle to keep their family together.

Jurgis Rudkus

Elzbieta is Ona's stepmother and Jurgis's mother-in-law, a matriarch who depends on Jurgis but also burdens him with her children.

Ona Rudkus

Elzbieta is Ona's stepmother, caring for her but also relying on her labor and marriage to Jurgis for the family's survival.

Jurgis Rudkus

Elzbieta is Ona's stepmother and Jurgis's mother-in-law, a matriarch who depends on Jurgis but also burdens him with her children.

The Jungle

Ona's stepmother, a weary but resilient woman caring for her six children.

The Wedding Feast

Ona's stepmother, referred to as Teta Elzbieta, is busy serving food and fluttering about the feast.

II

Ona's stepmother, called Teta Elzbieta; she and her six children are part of the emigrant party.

III

Teta Elzbieta expresses concern about the fate of the animals, asking what will become of them.

IV

Sews the down payment into her dress; goes to sign the deed and resists the agent's pressure.

VI

Takes Stanislovas to the priest for a false age certificate and confronts the agent about the interest.

Chapter VII

Tries to care for the children and manage the household; heartbroken by Antanas's death.

Chapter VIII

Part of the family that joins the union.

Chapter X

Deals with the frozen pipe flood and the insurance demand; bears the brunt of household crises.

Chapter XI

Accompanies Marija during the bank run, both sick with fear.

XII

Mentioned as part of the family struggling through the snowstorm and financial hardship.

Chapter XIII

Elzbieta is inconsolable after the death of her crippled son, Kristoforas. She begs neighbors for money to give him a proper funeral with a mass and a wooden cross, and remains haunted by the loss for months.

Chapter XIV

Explains Ona's pregnancy symptoms to Jurgis and tries to comfort the family.

XV

Tries to protect Ona by lying to Jurgis about her whereabouts.

Chapter XVI

Recalled by Jurgis showing him a valentine on the night Ona disappeared, highlighting the family's poverty and hope.

Chapter XVII

Reported to be begging with a basket at houses for food, but struggling due to the cold; the sausage department where she worked is shut down.

Chapter XIX

Found crouched in a corner, moaning and wailing, after Ona's death.

The Siege of Despair

Waits for word about scrubbing floors at Durham's offices and participates in family discussions about moving.

Chapter XXI

Manages the family's meager finances; gets a job scrubbing office floors at a packing plant; tells their family's tragic story to the settlement-worker, weeping as she recounts Ona's death and Jurgis's imprisonment.

XXVII

Mentioned as someone Jurgis had been escaping from, but now longs to see.

The Convert's Crusade

Remains skeptical of Socialism, focused only on daily survival, but tolerates Jurgis's new fervor.