# Jurgis Rudkus — The Jungle character guide > Jurgis Rudkus in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Jurgis, II Jurgis, VI Jurgis, Poor Jurgis, April Jurgis, Comrade Jurgis **First appearance:** 0002-i ## Snapshot A giant young Lithuanian who arrives in Packingtown bursting with strength and certainty, laughing at warnings that the yards break men. ## Who they are Jurgis comes to Chicago's stockyards from a forest village, newly married to Ona and convinced his broad back and tireless energy will buy them a future. He is the first man picked from the crowd at Brown and Company's time station, and he takes it as proof that the pessimists are simply weaker men. That confidence — boyish, generous, and untested — is the engine of the family's hopes and the thing the yards will steadily work on. ## Relationships ### [Ona Rudkus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/ona_rudkus) _family_ Jurgis and Ona are husband and wife, bound by love and shared struggle, but their marriage is shattered by poverty and tragedy. ### [Marija Berczynskas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/marija_berczynskas) _family_ Marija is Ona's cousin and a close family ally to Jurgis, fiercely loyal but often strained by economic hardship. ### [Jonas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jonas) _family_ Jonas is Elzbieta's brother and a member of the extended Rudkus household, working alongside Jurgis until he abandons the family. ### [Elzbieta Rudkus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/elzbieta_rudkus) _family_ 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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/nicholas_schliemann) _friendship_ Schliemann is a socialist intellectual who befriends Jurgis and educates him about class struggle and political ideology. ### [Madame Haupt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/madame_haupt) _professional_ Madame Haupt is a corrupt employment agent who exploits Jurgis and other immigrants by charging fees for false job promises. ### [Jack Duane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jack_duane) _friendship_ Jack Duane is a seasoned criminal who becomes Jurgis's ally in the underworld, teaching him the ways of theft and survival. ### [Aniele Jukniene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/aniele_jukniene) _social_ Aniele is a neighbor and fellow Lithuanian immigrant who rents rooms to Jurgis's family and shares their communal struggles. ### [Mike Scully](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/mike_scully) _rivalry_ Mike Scully is a corrupt political boss and packer who represents the oppressive system that Jurgis comes to hate and fight against. ### [Ostrinski](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/ostrinski) _friendship_ Ostrinski is a socialist organizer who helps Jurgis understand the labor movement and find purpose in collective action. ### [Master Freddie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/master_freddie) _rivalry_ Master Freddie is a wealthy playboy who seduces and rapes Ona, making him Jurgis's bitter enemy and target of revenge. ### [Harper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/harper) _professional_ Harper is a foreman at the packing plant who fires Jurgis after he is injured, exemplifying the callousness of industrial employers. ## In the story ### [The Jungle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/the-jungle) The groom, a strong and hopeful Lithuanian immigrant, newly married to Ona. ### [The Wedding Feast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/i) The groom, shy and shrinking, is pushed by the older folks to sit beside the bride. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/iii) Jurgis is proud of his new job and marvels at the efficiency of the packing plants, taking in the sights with wonder. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/iv) Starts work at the killing-beds, earning $1.57 on his first day; insists Ona and Elzbieta stay home. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/v) Begins to doubt his laissez-faire beliefs after seeing his father's struggles and learning about the corruption in the packing plants. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/vi) Stoically accepts the new financial burden, vowing to work harder, and agrees to let Stanislovas work. ### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/vii) Vows to protect Ona but is powerless against systemic exploitation; works in the packinghouses and avoids drinking to save money. ### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/viii) Embraces the union after disillusionment, attends meetings, and becomes a zealous convert, trying to recruit nonunion men. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/ix) Jurgis joins the union, begins learning English, attends night school, and reflects on his naturalization and voting experience. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xi) Works harder but earns less due to packers' tactics; suffers a severe ankle injury that leaves him helpless and despairing. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xiv) Struggles with alcohol addiction, resentment toward his family, and the physical toll of work in the fertilizer mill. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xv) Discovers Ona's affair with Connor, attacks him violently, and is arrested. ### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xx) 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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxii) Jurgis becomes a tramp, wandering and working harvests, battling his conscience and memories of Ona and Antanas. ### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxvi) Becomes a strikebreaker and boss in the killing-room, organizing a chaotic workforce and later drinking heavily. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxvii) Now a crippled outcast and tramp, desperate for work and haunted by the fear of starvation. ### [Chapter XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxviii) Sits motionless and rigid, trembling with wonder as he listens to the socialist speaker, experiencing a profound awakening. ### [Chapter XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxx) Becomes a zealous Socialist convert, trying to convert others, reading pamphlets, and attending meetings. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxxi) Present at the Socialist meeting, listening to the debate between Lucas and Schliemann. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jurgis_rudkus - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters