1. Who is Jack Duane, and why does Jurgis find him interesting?
2. Why were the men in jail with Jurgis not disgraced by their imprisonment?
3. How are the working men of Packingtown like wild animals?
4. What does Jurgis find out about the family’s state of affairs?
3. How are the working men of Packingtown like wild animals?
ReplyDeleteThey are descriped as wild animals because the rest of 'civilization' dosen't want to see them and think they are 'uncoth.' Mean while, if the man from Packingtown try to break free from the big wigs iron fist they are jailed and 'taught a lesson or two.' No matter were they go they are trapped.
From Beth: Who is Jack Duane? He is a man that gets put into the same cell as Jurgis and he finds him interesting because he holds a strange life of safe cracking and how he tells of all his adventures and I feel he sees him as a gentleman type with education for he is smart.
DeleteWhat does Jurgis find out about his family situation? His wife is ill, Mareja is cut again but worse with infection, everyone is losing jobs and they can’t afford anything. Kortina had to get a job with papers and it was easier with her for she is a girl. Conner is on a warpath with the family.
Chapt
1. Who is Jack Duane, and why does Jurgis find him interesting?
ReplyDeleteIn the morning, Jack Duane joins Jurgis in the cell. Duane's attitude about the necessary war against society appeals to Jurgis, who is in the beginning of his rebellious stage. He has a new cellmate, an articulate safecracker named Jack Duane. He is a cheerful man who tells Jurgis stories of intrigue and rebellion. It seems to Jurgis that Duane has struck back at the world, walking the underbelly of the city and engaging in crime. Everyone in the prison knows Duane by name. The introduction of Jack Duane is important as Jurgis begins to enter a new stage in his life. Jurgis' relationship with Duane illustrates how circumstances can force a man into a life of crime. Trying to be a law-abiding, hard-working citizen does Jurgis little good. For his family's sake, Jurgis demonstrates hard work, self-reliance, and values, but when he loses his family, he loses all desire to do the "right" thing. The prisoner is a lively young guy who comments on the awful state of the mattress and the smell in the cell. The prisoner responds that he is a "cracksman" someone who breaks into safes. However, he is actually in jail for disturbing the peace, since the cops have not found any evidence against him. Jurgis is astonished: the guy looks young, well put-together, and gentlemanly. The prisoner introduces himself as Jack Duane. Jurgis has never spoken to an educated man before, and he is interested in spite of himself. Jack Duane was a college kid studying electrical engineering when his father killed himself because of some business failure. Duane tried to help his mother and family by selling an invention of his, but he was cheated out of the patent by a big company and ended up losing everything. Therefore, Duane wound up skipping town, having learned that family is mostly a burden on a man.
4. What does Jurgis find out about the family’s state of affairs?
One day Stanislovas visited him, telling Jurgis that Ona is incredibly ill and that the family is nearly starving. Marija has injured her hand and cannot work and Ona, of course, has been fired. There is nothing Jurgis can do. Stanislovas visits Jurgis, begging for money and telling Jurgis of the continued troubles affecting the family. Jurgis' family suffers a variety of problems during his incarceration marking the beginning of the end. Now all able-bodied children are forced to work, which is precisely what Jurgis and Elzbieta wanted to avoid. Marija becomes the latest worker to sustain an on-the-job injury, which, of course, is not the responsibility of her employer. Ona is in bed and cannot go to work. Marija has cut her hand badly and it's getting infected. The company doctor has told her she may have to have her hand amputated. They are starving, they cannot get credit at the local store anymore, and they have missed the rent and interest payment for their house. The Sunday before, there was a heavy blizzard, and Stanislovas could not go to work.
1. Who is Jack Duane, and why does Jurgis find him interesting?
DeleteLook at the bottom of 135. Who else made a simlar (wrong) impression on Jurgis???