# Mike Scully — The Jungle character guide

> Mike Scully in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Scully

**First appearance:** 0007-vi

## Snapshot

The Democratic boss who carries the stockyards in his pocket, an enormously rich Irishman whose graft touches every job, saloon, and policeman in the district.

## Who they are

Scully rules the ward through the War-Whoop League, a club of "Indians" who fight, drink, and vote on election day, and a note signed by him is equal to a job in the packinghouses. He is the story's early portrait of how the machine works: he owns the dump, the brick factory, the ice, and the men who inspect the city's sewers, and he is admired as "the people's man" even as he fleeces them. His power explains why the Rudkus family's struggles are never merely personal — the game is rigged from the top, and he is the man holding the dice.

## Relationships

### [Jurgis Rudkus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jurgis_rudkus)

_rivalry_

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

### [Jurgis Rudkus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jurgis_rudkus)

_rivalry_

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

### [Jurgis Rudkus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/characters/jurgis_rudkus)

_rivalry_

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

## In the story

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

Referenced as the 'thumb' of the packers' control, contrasted with Callahan as the 'first finger'.

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

Scully is the Democratic boss of the stockyards who orchestrates a corrupt election deal involving a rich brewer and a Republican candidate.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxvi)

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_se/chapters/xxvii)

Referenced in connection with the 'Doyle Republican Association' and the election of his tenpin setter.

## Links

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