VegNews Book Club

The Gist: Hello VegNews Book Clubbers! It's time to discuss chapters 17 to 25 of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This section is mainly focused on Jurgis alone, and a number of changes take place for him. It starts off with Jurgis still in jail, where he has to remain for 30 days. Once out, he makes his way back to the house, but finds it occupied by a completely different family. He soon finds out where his family is staying—in the boarding house in which they previously stayed—and goes there, only to find out that Ona is having a premature birth of their second child. Ona is in horrible pain, and the family cannot afford a doctor to attend to her. So Jurgis sets out to beg for help and comes back with a Dutch midwife. Unfortunately, it is too late and after several hours the midwife reports that the baby is dead, and that Ona will die shortly due to blood loss. Jurgis goes up to see her one last time, and observes her death, which causes him a terrible amount of grief, so he leaves to get drunk. His mother-in-law helps him to realize that he still has a son, and Jurgis gets it back together and goes to find a job, but Packingtown is not an option because he has been black listed. He finally finds a job, only to lose it a few days later due to the factory being shut down. He is then given another job that is very far from the boarding house, so he only travels home on the weekends. One such weekend he comes home to find out that his only son has drowned in the mud on the street.

Jurgis totally loses it at this point, and he deserts the rest of the family and leaves the city. He spends the summer living as a tramp in the countryside, working odd jobs here and there. When the winter rolls around once again, he ventures back into the city to find a job. He finds one digging underground tunnels for railroad, but gets injured on the job. After spending two weeks in the hospital he is kicked out and finds out that he has lost his job. He has no other option but to beg for his life, and one night he comes across a drunk, wealthy young man, who takes him to his mansion and gives Jurgis a hundred dollar bill without even thinking about it. Unfortunately, Jurgis tries to get change from the bill, but is tricked by a bartender who takes his money. Infuriated, Jurgis attacks the man, but is stopped by the police, and is sent back to jail. While in prison, he meets a man who he previously met in jail, Jack Duane, who lives a life of crime. Jurgis follows Jack's path, getting involved with politics, which are completely corrupt at the time. He gets sent back to Packingtown to become a hog trimmer, and to show support for a Republican candidate in order to receive political graft.

The Discussion: Whew! Like I said, much takes place in these chapters, as you see from my long summary above. Here are a couple of discussion questions to start the conversation. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

1. As mentioned before, this book is primarily an attack on capitalism. What are your thoughts and feelings on capitalism? Do you think the system helps the factory farming industry grow? If the socioeconomic system changed, do you think it would benefit the animal rights movement?

2. What are your feelings on Jurgis's character? Do you think he's making the right decisions? Does he have any choice, in your opinion?

The Assignment: Please read chapters 26 to the end of The Jungle for our discussion on Monday, September 28.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig