Ch 18
The explains that Jurgis had to spend more time in jail because he couldnt make his bail payment. After three extra days he goes to his house. He finds out that his family has been kicked out because of failure to pay rent. The old Lithuanian woman that was their neighbor told him that his family was once again living in the boarding home. After learning this he goes to the boarding house to find his wife in labor. She is in life threatening condition because the baby is premature. Jurgis leaves to find help.

Ch 19
Jurgis finds Madame Haupt, a midwife, who doesnt want to help him in the first place because he doesnt have as much money as she would normally accept. She eventually agrees to take the little money he had then, and to have him owe the rest to her later, and goes to Ona. While Madame Haupt tended to Ona Jurgis went to the bar to get a free meal and to drink. The baby dies, and Ona not long after also dies. Jurgis goes to Teta's children and takes their earnings from the newspapers they sell, and went back to the bar to drink away his troubles.

Ch 20
After Ona's death, there is no money fora funeral, but Teta tries to get a little bit of money together to pay for a mass. Jurgis wants to go back to work at the job he was at before going to jail, but learns that he is banned from that factory. He finds a job from a friend in a different part of town working with machines. The atmosphere is different, and the employees are treated well. Shortly after Jurgis started getting optimistic, the factory shut down and Jurgis once again, lost his job.

Ch 21
Jurgis cannot find work. The only income is the children selling papers, and that only keeps the family from dieing of starvation. The children have to go and try to find food in the dump. A wealthy woman takes pity on the children and promises a position for Jurgis at her fiance's mill. Jurgis gets the job and works for a few weeks before he comes home to find that his son Anatas drown in a puddle.

Ch 22
Jurgis runs from his problems. He boards a train and gets as far away from Packington as possible. He learns to live as a tramp and makes a little bit of money. He has given up on saving his money, and spends all of it on alcohol. He joins a gang temporarily, but cannot get Ona and Anatas out of his head. He misses his family a great deal.

Ch 23
After a while, Jurgis returned to Chicago. He needed work, and found a job working for a railroad. He got injured on the job, and was out of work. He had to go to the hospital. He was in the hospital on Christmas. He leaves the hospital in the middle of the night and returned to the boarding house. His old room was rented to some other family. Jurgis had no money what so ever. He was forced to beg on the streets.

Ch 24
While begging, Jurgis comes across a drunk man who wants someone to talk to. He ends up telling Jurgis that he can stay at his house, and he also gives him one hundred dollars. The drunk man, Freddy gives Jurgis a meal. Freddy passes out shortly after, and Jurgis is thrown out of the house by Freddy's staff.

Ch 25
Jurgis wanted to change out the hundred dollar bill at his regular saloon. He gets cheated out of some of his money, and Jurgis freaks out. He beats the bartender up, and is again, taken to jail. His sentence was for 10 days. When in jail, he once again meets up with Jack Duane. Once Jurgis is out again he plots with politicians to get Mike Scully elected for money in Packington.