The Jungle · Chapter
Chapter XVIII explained
Jurgis is released from the Bridewell after serving extra days for court costs.
What happens
Jurgis is released from the Bridewell after serving extra days for court costs. He walks through the rain and slush back to the stockyards, only to find his house repainted and occupied by strangers. Realizing his family has lost their home, he is overcome with grief and rage before heading to Aniele's house.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Survival
Jurgis's release from jail without money or warm clothing forces him to walk miles in freezing rain, highlighting the relentless struggle for survival.
Illusion of the American Dream
The loss of the house, for which the family sacrificed everything, shatters any remaining hope of achieving stability and prosperity.
Corruption and Injustice
Jurgis is forced to work extra days for court costs without being informed, and the legal system sides with the company that took his home.
Characters to notice
- Jurgis Rudkus
Released from jail, walks home in the rain, discovers his family's house has been sold and repainted, and goes to Aniele's.
- Ona Rudkus
Thought of anxiously by Jurgis as he worries about her and the baby.
- Aniele Jukniene
Jurgis goes to her house at the end of the chapter; she opens the door, shrunken with rheumatism.
- Antanas Rudkus
Mentioned in Jurgis's thoughts as having died from the struggle to earn money for the house.
Key passages
“To his sentence there were added “court costs” of a dollar and a half—he was supposed to pay for the trouble of putting him in jail, and not having the money, was obliged to work it off by three days more of toil.”
Jurgis had to serve three extra days of hard labor because he couldn't afford the court fees added to his sentence.
Illustrates the exploitative nature of the justice system for the poor.
“All that they had paid was gone—every cent of it. And their house was gone—they were back where they had started from, flung out into the cold to starve and freeze!”
Every dollar they had invested in the house was lost, and they were now homeless and destitute.
Captures the devastating culmination of the family's struggles.