Rod Hill
English 101
Bleck
5/20/10

The Jungle Chapters 26-31
Major points summary

Chapter 26
- Jurgis starts hanging out with “sporty” friends and he wears a shirt and tie.
- Jurgis’ union starts to participate in “The Great Beef Strike,” but then works as a scab for $3/day.
- Jurgis accepts a position as a boss in the killing room, for $5/day and a promise of job security.
- The strike ends after ten days, but resumes when the packers discriminate against the union leaders.
- Jurgis is arrested again after attacking Phil Connor. Harper has Jurgis’ bail reduced from $500 to $300.
- Jurgis heads to the other side of Chicago with $3.39, the remainder of his savings.

Chapter 27
- Jurgis is back to begging for a job. His hunger and homelessness are especially difficult.
- Jurgis is offered a job, but then he’s fired because he is not strong enough.
- Jurgis attends a political rally to stay warm, but he’s kicked out for continuing to fall asleep.
- Jurgis meets Alena Jasaityte, the belle of his "veselija." She tells him where Marija is living. He goes there and discovers that it’s a brothel, just as the police are conducting a raid. He spots Marija. She tells him that she had to do this work to keep Elzbieta and the children from starving and that Stanislovas died after being attacked by rats. She tells Jurgis that nobody in the family blamed him for running away. Jurgis is herded to jail with the prostitutes.

Chapter 28
- Jurgis is released after his hearing, telling the judge that he was merely in the brothel looking for his sister.
- Marija confesses that she’s addicted to morphine.
- Marija gives Jurgis the family’s address. Jurgis wants to get a job before he visits the family.
- Jurgis goes to another political rally. He starts to nod off, but a woman addresses him as “comrade” and tells him to listen to the speaker.
- Jurgis discovers that this is a meeting of socialists, and in the speaker’s words, Jurgis hears things that verify that the socialists represent his interests.

Chapter 29
- At the end of the meeting, Jurgis wants to learn more about socialism, so the speaker introduces Ostrinski who speaks Lithuanian.
- Jurgis is invited to Ostrinski’s home, where they talk about their experiences. Ostrinski explains the basic principles of socialism, and talks about the two classes, the capitalist and the proletariat. He tells Jurgis about worldwide, national, and local socialist movements. Jurgis reviews socialist literature, and gets a different insight of the Beef Trust.

Chapter 30
- Jurgis gets a job as a hotel porter, which pays $30/month plus board. His new boss is Tommy Hinds, who happens to be the state's socialist party organizer.
- Hinds speaks out for the socialists, and often uses “Comrade” Jurgis to tell visiting socialists about the conditions in the meat-packing plants.
- Jurgis starts reading "Appeal to Reason" and becomes more involved in local socialist activities in Packingtown.

Chapter 31
- Jurgis tries to get Marija to stop being a prostitute, but she explains that she will remain mostly because she is addicted to morphine.
- Jurgis is invited to be part of a meeting with magazine editor Maynard. Nicholas Schliemann leads the meeting, and he explains the basic principles of socialism and as applied to the production of meat. Jurgis’ role is to testify about the meat packing conditions and to tell of tainted meat which is sold.
- Later, on election night, word arrives that the socialist party has made incredible gains across the country. A speaker rallies the crowd to continue campaigning for the socialists, saying “Chicago will be ours!”