1. Where does Jurgis go for the winter?
2. What is his new job, and what “stroke of bad luck” befalls him this time?
3. What is a “sitter,” and what is his function?
4. What does Jurgis feel towards the evangelist and his message?
5. How does Jurgis compare to the other beggars on the streets?
4. What does Jurgis feel towards the evangelist and his message?
ReplyDeleteHe dosen't like them at all and is mad at them. He says that they have never known hunger, cold, discomfort in their life yet they are standing up on stage telling them that they need to be saved from sin and better their life. They don't seem to understand that they are in dier straights and can hardly survive let alone improve their life, or else most of them would have already.
Yes, he felt that they have never lived life, they are a poor choice to speak to the downtrodden.
Delete1. Where does Jurgis go for the winter?
ReplyDeleteIt is the dead of winter. He attends a religious revival with other bums just to stay warm. He despises the men preaching at the revival since he feels that they have no right to talk about saving souls. The only refuge Jurgis has is the saloon. Every time he gets a coin, he immediately rushes into one, where, for the price of a drink, he can get warmth, food and companionship. People who see him doing this are disgusted.
2. What is his new job, and what “stroke of bad luck” befalls him this time?
The job all takes place underground: Jurgis is digging the new Chicago subway system. This public transit system is the result of some kind backstage wheeling and dealing between a bunch of different big Chicago companies and none of the work is being done by unionized labor. Still, Jurgis does not care. He is just happy that he is involved with a new tunnel so the work should be steady for the whole winter. Jurgis breaks his arm after only a few weeks on the job and must spend two weeks in the hospital. After he is released from the hospital, Jurgis once again is out on the street in the middle of winter with no means of survival. When his money runs out, he is forced to become a beggar, but he does not do well.
4. What does Jurgis feel towards the evangelist and his message?
Jurgis wonders what the evangelists really know about sin and suffering while realizing that the poor come to meetings only to have shelter from the cold. Jurgis is not interested in religion. He is just looking for shelter from the cold. Jurgis listens to the preacher and starts to feel bitter.
3.What is a “sitter,” and what is his function?
ReplyDeleteA sitter is a miserable looking bum who sits in the corner to attract customers. A working man would come in for a drink, see the bum and possibly offer to buy him a drink. The men might start talking and find they have things in common, conversing over several drinks, earning the saloon keeper money.