Jurgis Rudkus

Ona Rudkus

Jurgis and Ona are husband and wife, bound by love and shared struggle, but their marriage is shattered by poverty and tragedy.

Marija Berczynskas

Marija is Ona's cousin and a close family ally to Jurgis, fiercely loyal but often strained by economic hardship.

Jonas

Jonas is Elzbieta's brother and a member of the extended Rudkus household, working alongside Jurgis until he abandons the family.

Elzbieta 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.

Nicholas Schliemann

Schliemann is a socialist intellectual who befriends Jurgis and educates him about class struggle and political ideology.

Madame Haupt

Madame Haupt is a corrupt employment agent who exploits Jurgis and other immigrants by charging fees for false job promises.

Jack Duane

Jack Duane is a seasoned criminal who becomes Jurgis's ally in the underworld, teaching him the ways of theft and survival.

Aniele Jukniene

Aniele is a neighbor and fellow Lithuanian immigrant who rents rooms to Jurgis's family and shares their communal struggles.

Mike Scully

Mike Scully is a corrupt political boss and packer who represents the oppressive system that Jurgis comes to hate and fight against.

Ostrinski

Ostrinski is a socialist organizer who helps Jurgis understand the labor movement and find purpose in collective action.

Master Freddie

Master Freddie is a wealthy playboy who seduces and rapes Ona, making him Jurgis's bitter enemy and target of revenge.

Harper

Harper is a foreman at the packing plant who fires Jurgis after he is injured, exemplifying the callousness of industrial employers.

The Jungle

The groom, a strong and hopeful Lithuanian immigrant, newly married to Ona.

The Wedding Feast

The groom, shy and shrinking, is pushed by the older folks to sit beside the bride.

II

Young, strong, and confident; dismisses warnings about work in the stockyards; recalls his courtship of Ona and his labor on a railroad to earn passage to America.

III

Jurgis is proud of his new job and marvels at the efficiency of the packing plants, taking in the sights with wonder.

IV

Starts work at the killing-beds, earning $1.57 on his first day; insists Ona and Elzbieta stay home.

V

Begins to doubt his laissez-faire beliefs after seeing his father's struggles and learning about the corruption in the packing plants.

VI

Stoically accepts the new financial burden, vowing to work harder, and agrees to let Stanislovas work.

Chapter VII

Vows to protect Ona but is powerless against systemic exploitation; works in the packinghouses and avoids drinking to save money.

Chapter VIII

Embraces the union after disillusionment, attends meetings, and becomes a zealous convert, trying to recruit nonunion men.

IX

Jurgis joins the union, begins learning English, attends night school, and reflects on his naturalization and voting experience.

Chapter X

Earnings drop from nine or ten dollars to five or six; he confronts the house agent about expenses; feels pride and worry over his newborn son Antanas.

Chapter XI

Works harder but earns less due to packers' tactics; suffers a severe ankle injury that leaves him helpless and despairing.

XII

Suffers a severe ankle injury, attempts to work prematurely, and is forced to rest for two months. Later, he loses his job and struggles to find work, feeling discarded by the industry.

Chapter XIII

Desperately seeking work, Jurgis contemplates taking a job in the fertilizer plant, a place so horrific that men speak of it in whispers. He debates whether he can refuse any work, even this, given his family's dire need.

Chapter XIV

Struggles with alcohol addiction, resentment toward his family, and the physical toll of work in the fertilizer mill.

XV

Discovers Ona's affair with Connor, attacks him violently, and is arrested.

Chapter XVI

Imprisoned and suffering in a filthy cell, Jurgis experiences a crisis of despair and rage, culminating in a bitter rejection of the law and society.

Chapter XVII

Imprisoned, receives devastating news about his family's suffering, gives his last fourteen cents to Stanislovas, and begins to learn from Jack Duane about a different way of fighting society.

Chapter XVIII

Released from jail, walks home in the rain, discovers his family's house has been sold and repainted, and goes to Aniele's.

Chapter XIX

Desperate and impoverished, Jurgis tries to hire a midwife for Ona but fails due to lack of money. He spends the night in a saloon cellar and returns to find Ona dead.

The Siege of Despair

Blacklisted from Packingtown, Jurgis searches desperately for work, endures homelessness, briefly works at the Harvester Trust, and is laid off; later he is rejected from a job at Jones's due to the blacklist.

Chapter XXI

Heartbroken after losing his job at the harvesting-machine works; roams the city for ten days seeking any work; finally gets a job at a steel mill through a settlement-worker's letter; witnesses a man's foot being mashed off and a furnace explosion that injures his hand; finds solace in his son Antanas.

XXII

Jurgis becomes a tramp, wandering and working harvests, battling his conscience and memories of Ona and Antanas.

Chapter XXIII

Works in tunnel construction, suffers a severe injury when struck by a train car, is hospitalized, and later returns to Chicago to find work.

XXIV

Jurgis is homeless and desperate, roaming the streets in bitter cold, begging for lodging and food. He is taken in by a wealthy drunkard and experiences a brief respite from his suffering.

Chapter XXV

Jurgis is introduced to the criminal and political underworld, participates in voter fraud, and is cheated while trying to change a stolen hundred-dollar bill.

XXVI

Becomes a strikebreaker and boss in the killing-room, organizing a chaotic workforce and later drinking heavily.

XXVII

Now a crippled outcast and tramp, desperate for work and haunted by the fear of starvation.

Chapter XXVIII

Sits motionless and rigid, trembling with wonder as he listens to the socialist speaker, experiencing a profound awakening.

Chapter XXIX

Jurgis listens to Ostrinski's socialist teachings, finding a new perspective on his past suffering and the exploitation he endured.

The Convert's Crusade

Becomes a zealous Socialist convert, trying to convert others, reading pamphlets, and attending meetings.

XXXI

Present at the Socialist meeting, listening to the debate between Lucas and Schliemann.