Jurgis Rudkus Character Analysis

Little does Jurgis know, his wife has her own hardships in the workforce. Ona reveals she has been raped repeatedly by her boss. Hearing this, Jurgis becomes livid, and tries to choke her abuser, which causes him to end up in jail. Thirty days later, fresh out of Jail, he finds his wife in labor with their second child, but the labor is premature and causes both Ona and the child to die.

Another form of exploitation that doesn’t allow Jurgis and his family to achieve their American dream is the long hours of labor they must work in order to maintain the family alive. These unhealthy long hours of labor that they must work brings the family physical and mental pain. When Jurgis starts to work in the meat packing plant he is exited and happy to have a job, soon after he discovers that he is engaged in unfair labor activities as well as unsafe food handling. In chapter 11 Jurgis suffers from a terrible accident at work. The company doctor tells him that he'll be laid up for months with a severe ankle and foot injury. The accident poses a terrible problem for the family. Without Jurgis' wages, they might starve. “It was dreadful that an accident of this sort, that no man can help, should have meant such suffering. The bitterness of it was the

When his wife doesn’t return home at the normal times he's starts getting suspicious and later finds out that her boss,Connor, is forcing her to sleep with him. Sinclair describes Connor as this “a big,red-faced Irishman,coarse-featured, and smelling of liquor,” Sinclair 183 and his image is what most symbolize most bosses back then. The bosses were fat,ugly, and mean, they symbolize the capitalism in America feeding on the poorer people just to make themselves richer. Throughout the chapter Sinclair keeps using repetition to remind of us that the family is poor and has no power. Sinclair tell us that the reason Ona was trying to keep quiet was that Connor threaten would he “would all of us lose our places,” Sinclair 181 meaning that he would cause all of them to lose their job. Connor symbolizes the power and greed of the higher ranked people in American society being able to do what they want. These events caused Jurgis to fly into a rage and rush to find where Connor is and beats him to a pulp. He however is caught and sent to jail for 30 days during Christmas. In jail he starts doubting everything he believes in about America and starts losing

Jurgis and his family were faced with many predicaments related to these poor surroundings and circumstances. The family hastily saw that they must enter the competition forced upon them in a social Darwinist fashion. When he first arrived in Packingtown, Jurgis found work quickly in the meat packing industry because of his strong, young stature. As the years went by, however, and he grew plagued with injuries and financial troubles, Jurgis found work to be evermore difficult to obtain and hold. The social system cracked down on the family and offered nowhere for the Rudkus' to turn for help.

An Irish union representative approaches him and tries to make him join the union for a portion of his pay. Jurgis is frantic at this and trusts that every man should work as he is able and receive just compensation for this work. Although Jurgis does not know what “laissez-faire” economics was, he had been around the world long enough to know that a man has to change the world for himself to be better in it. After being their for a while he realized his working condition were horrible and later joined the union.

Although the injury was caused by leaping out of the way from out-of-control cattle, the company declares Jurgis’ injury to be his own fault. Forced to rest at home with no means to earn money while other strong-bodied men replace him, the bank eventually forecloses on his home, only to resell to another eager family that shared Jurgis’ optimism. Realizing this truth, Jurgis’ father Anatanas is just as resolute to help provide for the family. He takes up a job in a pickling-basement with poor air quality and contact with poisonous chemicals, which ultimately leads to his death. Lack of sympathy is a common theme which helps Sinclair paint the picture of an unforgiving environment, where people come and go, processed much like cattle. Sinclair’s title is appropriate given the ways people are treated when an accident happens.

Ryleigh Gangarossa is a sixth grader at Martha Brown Middle School. She loves to read, write, and play football and soccer with her family. Ryleigh is a hardworking and intelligent person who loves to work with her friends. She hopes to be a professional soccer player when she grows up.

Jurgis learned from other people’s stories who were in jail. Jurgis tried to do good and was served 30 days in jail. Stanislovas would visit Jurgis in jail and told Jurgis of the struggle the family is facing. Jurgis gave Stanislovas everything he had. There was no justice for Jurgis.

In jail, Jurgis becomes friends with Jack Duane—a “safe-breaker.” After returning to jail and reacquainting with Duane, Jack introduces Jurgis to Chicago’s criminal system. He learns about the illegal ways the men make profits and the secret partnerships between businesses that enable such crimes. Together, Jurgis and Duane gang up on a victim and steal his possessions, burning everything except for his money, which they kept. At first Jurgis feels guilty for his crime, nevertheless, he later becomes accustomed to the felonious way of life as his attacks with Jack continue and he grows power hungry. Jurgis loves his ability to live comfortably and spend recklessly on drinking without consequences. Even after Duane leaves town, Jurgis continues to associate with criminals and finds way to earn ample sums of dirty money (Sinclair). Jurgis’s new way of life is primarily involved with gaining power from others. By taking someone’s money—a resource essential to survival in America— the victim loses power because he is left unable to afford necessities and thus is forced to work. On the other hand, the culprit benefits from the other’s forced labor and procures dominance. Not only does the attack induce fear and a sense of authority, but the acquired wealth leads Jurgis to afford more luxuries and indulgences, especially drinking. As he secures more and more money, Jurgis climbs the ranks of the

By the middle of the book, Jurgis has gone through some changes in life and has changed in appearance. Sinclair describes… “The poor fellow looked like a homeless ghost, with his cheeks sunken in and his black hair straggling into his eyes, he was too discouraged to cut it or think about his appearance. His muscles were wasting away, and what was left was wasting away” (Sinclair 122). When Sinclair is describing how worn down and weak Jurgis is in the middle of the book. A runaway steer

A week after Ona gives birth, her bitter boss makes her return to work. She is very upset, and her health takes a turn for the worst. Though still working the family is stressed about making ends meet. Ona is forced into prostitution and raped by her boss. When Jurgis finds about about this, he is more than livid. Jurgis goes right to his face, and ends up brawling. The fight makes Jurgis go to jail, which he finds more enjoyable than being free due to the roof over his head and being fed well. While in jail, he begins making a friend who is extremely knowledgeable about the criminal underground. Jurgis saw the money to come with being a criminal, and saw it as the best way to provide for his struggling family. Hilldrup faces the same difficulty as Jurgis. He feels defeated, like he cannot prove himself, so he turns to money as a way of comfort, no matter the way he gets it. Yet, still no one wants to be apart of him at the end because he was a

Throughout the novel it is evident that factory owners care more about their profits, than the health of their workers. Jurgis would often work long shifts for little pay. In the story the Sinclair states, “And for this, at the end of the week, he would carry home three dollars to his family, being his pay at the rate of five cents per hour—just about his proper share of the total earnings of the million and three-quarters of children who are now engaged in earning their livings in the United States" (85). This quote proves that Jurgis was laboring long hours, every single day, to make no more than a child. Due to this Jurgis struggles to provide for his family and purchase necessities to live a healthy lifestyle. Eventually his lack of success leads him to drinking and corrupt activities. The corrupt practices of the factory owners are evidenced by child labor, sale of contaminated meat, and abuse of female workers. While capitalist gain financial earnings, the corruption that takes place destroys the heart and soul of workers throughout the stockyards, until all hope is lost.

Jurgis Rudkus- A Lithuanian immigrant, he is very hardworking and tries to do everything in his power to support and protect his family. He believes that he can make the American dream a reality but unfortunately he was following the wrong dream (The protagonist).

In the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, Vladek’s ability to easily adapt to his ever-changing surroundings and his quality of being very frugal with his possessions allow him to survive the terrors of Auschwitz and WWII, but his frugality is also what pushes away those who mean the most to him. Vladek's skill of being able to quickly adapt to his new environment is demonstrated when he is assigned to a desirable job as a shoemaker despite only having a basic understanding of shoemaking (Spiegelman 220). Even though Vladek has never fixed a shoe before, his talent allows him to learn new things easily which makes him a man of all trades, which is why he is assigned jobs that require more skill than strength and are meant for intellectuals.

Solomon Vandy is an African father and fisherman. Solomon loves his son immensely. He is determined and hopeful to find his son named Dia Vandy. He fights to keep his family together. He is very loyal, kind, honest, and trustworthy.