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Spoon River Anthology Theme

Decent Essays

Loss is inevitable, there is a time in everyone's life that this pain will be felt, yet dealing with it shows the true character of the person. The book of Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters displays the true meaning of that statement. The characters throughout explain the many struggles faced in their life, all the way until their death. In The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, the main character is doomed from the very beginning. He demonstrates the life of an immigrant, poor, nasty, brutish. He along with his family undergo massive loss and devastation throughout the entire book. The difference in background, race, minority, plays no role in the extreme suffering each and everyone of these characters felt. Hope and love surrounds Jurgis’ family as they enter the United States as new citizens. Newly married Jurgis and Ona are hopeful their marriage, family and American Dream will not be oppressed by the fact they are …show more content…

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

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