# Jokubas Szedvilas — The Jungle character guide

> Jokubas Szedvilas in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jokubas, ponas Jokubas, Szedvilas

**First appearance:** 0002-i

## Snapshot

A Lithuanian delicatessen owner and old-time Packingtown resident who guides the newly arrived Rudkus family through the yards with the pride of a country squire.

## Who they are

He is the family's first bridge to Chicago: a small shopkeeper with many acquaintances, including the special policeman who doles out jobs at Durham's. His pride in the packing district — he claims the landscape even though the packers own the land — sits uneasily beside the grimness of what he is showing. Through him the newcomers get their first jobs and their first tour of the wonder and horror of the yards, and his cautious, well-connected optimism sets the tone of the family's early hopes.

## In the story

### [The Jungle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/the-jungle)

A fellow Lithuanian who runs a delicatessen and helps the family navigate Chicago.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/iii)

Jokubas acts as the family's guide through the stockyards, providing both factual information and cynical commentary about the industry's dark side.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/iv)

Accompanies the women to read the deed; discovers it is a rental agreement, causing alarm.

### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned as having a young friend who works in a store and tells of deceptive sales practices.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/ix)

Jurgis first inspected the packing-plants with Szedvilas, as recalled in the chapter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jokubas_szedvilas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters