Mitchell Cranmer

English 101

Bleck

5-20-2010

Major Points The Jungle Chapters 26-31

Chapter 26

Jurgis hangs out with a younger hipper crowd.
The stockyards prepare to and then go on strike.
Jurgis asks Scully for advice, who tells him to continue working, even as a scab.
The company takes care of Jurgis while he scabs, but he is hassled by crowds.
This incident makes national headlines as news of strike riots spreads.
Jurgis becomes a supervisor in the factory, becomes frustrated with the scabs lack of work ethic.
A deal is reached with the unions, but the factories refuse to hire back union men, inciting a new strike.
The packers bring in men as scabs from all around and feed and house them at great expense.
Life in the stockyards deteriorates as debauchery and crime rise.
Jurgis finds Connor and attacks him again, gets arrested again.
Jurgis finds out Connor is important and has to spend all his saved money to post bail.

Chapter 27

Jurgis is homeless and unemployed again.
He goes to rest at a political meeting, falls asleep and gets kicked out.
He runs into an old friend who directs him to Marija's new house.
At Marija's house they get raided by the police and Jurgis gets arrested again.
He finds out that Marija has become a whore and morphine addict.
He also finds that Teta and her kids live downtown, Stanislovas has died, Tamozious took off.

Chapter 28

Jurgis and the prostitutes are set free, he goes to speak with Marija.
Marija explains what life is like for a prostitute, what the systems of control are like, including drugs and debt to keep them around.
Jurgis goes to tentatively seek Teta, ends up sitting down at a political rally again.
A young lady gets him interested in the speaker and he begins to pay attention.
A powerful speaker captivates the audience and proclaims to speak for economic justice for all.
Jurgis is captivated and excited by the speech.

Chapter 29

Jurgis, excited by the speech seeks out the speaker to convey his gratitude.
The speaker directs him to a man named Ostrinsky.
Ostrinsky offers Jurgis a place to stay and the two exchange stories.
Ostrinsky starts to explain socialism to Jurgis.
The man explains a lot of the corruption in packingtown.

Chapter 30

Jurgis talks to Teta, explains his new found socialism to no avail.
He finds a job as a hotel porter.
He finds out his boss is a socialist too and begins to get more of an education.
His boss, Hinds, uses the hotel as a recruiting ground for socialism and the education of.
Jurgis is used as a prop to describe the situation in the stockyards.
He learns even more about the socialist infrastructure, including the paper “The Appeal”.

Chapter 31

Jurgis is invited to a party to discuss his position in the stockyards.
He listens to some intellectuals describe and argue about their positions in socialism in an attempt to sway a reporter.
The men talk about several facets of socialism, including the waste of capitalism, the utopian ideals of less work for the common man, and ways of structuring society in a more efficient way.
The presidential election is held, Debs the socialist candidate does very well but doesn't win.
A speaker makes an impassioned speech urging the socialists to organize and keep fighting.