The Jungle; Chapters 4, 5, & 6

Reading chapter four was exciting. I enjoyed seeing Jurgis so proud of himself for obtaining a job. He was a sweeper in the killing beds. It is a simple job and Jurgis was very jubilant to begin work. In chapter four the family also made a very big decision. They decided to buy a house that they saw on an advertisement. Although the house was very different than the paper illustrated, they bought it. They weren’t sure about the decision they had made and were very frightened it was a scam. This chapter amazed me at how fast they began their lives in America.

Chapter five begins with the family beginning to furnish their new home. I noticed in this chapter that the picture advertisements were very smart and successful for immigrants, and was a smart business trap. I liked in this chapter how the book described to the reader what they ate. That amused me, because I was pondering their diet, while reading in earlier chapters. This is the chapter where Jurgis discovers that good people fail in life, and the evil prevail. It is eye opening to Jurgis, and he doesn’t like being apart of the bad people. I feel bad for him because he was so excited about getting a job, and he now realizes that it is in a way, very bad.

Chapter six begins with telling us that Jurgis and Ona are very in love. This is about the only content statement in the chapter. Sadly, a woman from the neighborhood tells the family that the house was meant to be a scam, and they are going to begin to charge interest on top of the monthly rent. Because of this, Ona must get a job as well as the child. It was very depressing to see how disappointed the family was, but they all found jobs, and they will be okay, money wise.

This reading was very easy for me to understand, and it really suprised me how much they had to walk, and carry all of their new things for miles on foot. I can't imagine what that would be like.