Rod Hill
English 101
Bleck
5/7/10

The Jungle Chapters 18-25
Major points summary

Chapter 18
- Jurgis stayed an extra three days in jail because he couldn’t pay the $1.50 court costs.
- He walked twenty miles to his house and discovered that another family was living there.
- Grandmother Majauszkiene told Jurgis that the family was been evicted because they couldn’t pay the rent. They moved back to the boarding house where they first lived.
- Jurgis arrived at the boarding house and discovered that Ona was in premature labor.
- Jurgis collected $1.25 to pay for a doctor for Ona.

Chapter 19
- Jurgis hired Madame Haupt, a midwife, to help Ona. He spent the night in a saloon.
- When Jurgis returned, Madame Haupt told him that the baby was dead and that Ona was dying.
- Ona recognized Jurgis for an instant, and then died.
- Jurgis took $3.00 from Kotrina so that he could get drunk.

Chapter 20
- Jurgis sobered up and looked for a job. He discovered that he had been blacklisted by Phil Connor.
- After two weeks of searching for employment, Jurgis got a job at Harvester Trust.
- Jurgis started to regain some hope. He started planning and studied English in the evening.
- After working nine days, Jurgis’ department at Harvester Trust closed “until further notice.”

Chapter 21
- Jurgis looked for work for ten days, then a rich woman visited the boarding house and wrote Jurgis a letter of recommendation.
- Jurgis presented the letter at a steel mill and got a job.
- Since the mill was fifteen miles away, Jurgis stayed at a Polish boarding house and went home only on weekends.
- Elzbieta and Juozapas got jobs.
- Jurgis returned home one Saturday and learned that his son Antanas drowned in the street.

Chapter 22
- After verifying that Antanas was dead, Jurgis walked to the railroad crossing and swung himself onto one of the freight cars of a moving train. When the train stopped in the country, he jumped off.
- Jurgis began his life as a tramp, traveling from farm to farm, begging for food, a job, and a place to sleep. In his travels, Jurgis met other tramps who taught him how to steal and forage.
- Jurgis worked for two weeks in the harvesting fields of Missouri, earned a good sum of money, then spent it all on alcohol and prostitutes.

Chapter 23
- Jurgis returned to Chicago in the fall, and got a job digging underground railroad tunnels. He thought that it would be a long-term job, so spent his money carelessly.
- Jurgis was involved in a tunnel accident and broke his arm. He spent Christmas in the hospital.
- He left the hospital after two weeks and found out that his room at the boarding house was rented. After six days, every cent of Jurgis’ money was gone. He started begging on the streets.

Chapter 24
- While begging one night, Jurgis met Freddie Jones, who invited Jurgis home for a meal. Jurgis called a cab, and Jones handed Jurgis a $100 bill. He told Jurgis to pay the cabbie and keep the change.
- Jurgis learned that Jones’ father owned the factory in which he had his first job.
- Freddie provided Jurgis with food and drink, then fell asleep. The butler Hamilton confronted Jurgis and kicked him out of the house.

Chapter 25
- Jurgis went to a bar to get change for the $100 bill. The bartender took the bill, sold Jurgis a 5¢ beer and gave Jurgis 95¢ in change. Jurgis attacked the bartender and was arrested. The next morning, the trial judge disbelieved Jurgis' story of the $100 bill, and sentenced Jurgis to ten days and costs.
- Once again in Bridewell prison, Jurgis talked with Jack Duane and other prisoners. They told Jurgis that a life of crime was the way to survive. After his release, Jurgis participated in a mugging with Duane.
- Through Duane, Jurgis got a glimpse of Chicago’s high-class criminal world, and the "army of graft."
- Jurgis met “Bush” Harper, a vote-buyer, who in turn introduced Jurgis to Mike Scully. Scully had Jurgis take a job as a hog-trimmer and had him join a union. At election time, Jurgis brought groups of immigrants to the polls. He was rewarded with hundreds of dollars, after which he went on a drinking binge.