The Jungle · Chapter
Chapter XVII explained
While imprisoned, Jurgis receives a visit from little Stanislovas, who reports the family's dire situation: Ona is sick and refuses to work, Marija has cut her hand badly and may lose it, the family is starving and unable to pay rent, and t
What happens
While imprisoned, Jurgis receives a visit from little Stanislovas, who reports the family's dire situation: Ona is sick and refuses to work, Marija has cut her hand badly and may lose it, the family is starving and unable to pay rent, and they have been blacklisted from jobs. Jurgis gives Stanislovas his fourteen cents. Later, Jurgis meets Jack Duane, a college-educated safe-breaker who shares his cynical philosophy of fighting society rather than enduring it. Jurgis is exposed to the jail's criminal underworld, learning about the corruption and injustice that pervades the city.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Survival
The family's extreme deprivation—starvation, inability to pay rent, lack of coal, and reliance on begging—is vividly portrayed through Stanislovas's report.
Corruption and Injustice
Jurgis's exposure to the jail's criminal underworld reveals a system where the wealthy swindle millions while the poor are punished for petty crimes, and where justice is a sham.
Family and Sacrifice
Despite his own imprisonment, Jurgis gives his last money to his family, and the family members continue to struggle and sacrifice for each other, even as they face collapse.
Characters to notice
- Jurgis Rudkus
Imprisoned, receives devastating news about his family's suffering, gives his last fourteen cents to Stanislovas, and begins to learn from Jack Duane about a different way of fighting society.
- Stanislovas
Visits Jurgis in jail, reporting the family's starvation, Ona's illness, Marija's injury, and their inability to find work; walks all day to reach the prison and has only a piece of bread.
- Ona Rudkus
Reported to be very sick, refusing to eat or work, crying constantly, and having lost her job after attempting to return to the packing plant.
- Marija Berczynskas
Cut her hand badly, the wound is turning green, and the company doctor says she may need to have it amputated; she is out of work and nearly out of money.
- Jack Duane
Jurgis's cellmate, a college-educated safe-breaker who was robbed of an invention and turned to crime; he shares his cynical worldview and introduces Jurgis to the criminal underworld.
- Elzbieta Rudkus
Reported to be begging with a basket at houses for food, but struggling due to the cold; the sausage department where she worked is shut down.
Key passages
“It was like having weights piled upon him, one after another, crushing the life out of him.”
The relentless bad news from his family felt like heavy burdens being stacked on him, slowly destroying his will to live.
Describes Jurgis's emotional reaction to Stanislovas's report of the family's suffering.
“They were swindlers and thieves of pennies and dimes, and they had been trapped and put out of the way by the swindlers and thieves of millions of dollars.”
The petty criminals in jail were caught and punished by the wealthy criminals who stole far more and remained free.
Reflects Jurgis's growing understanding of systemic injustice as he listens to the other prisoners.