A sure lot happened in this 130 or so page read we were assigned. Things looked bright at first, when they all had jobs, less the younger children and Teta, and they were making the rent and interest, and had a little left over for food, but none to spend leisurely. I found this to be saddening and hope never to live like this, but soon this life seems much better in comparison to their life a few chapters later. Events transpire and they start to starve, some characters die off, and they end up losing the house and everything they've worked for here in America.
Now that most of the characters have jobs in different places of the packing industry, they begin to piece together all the swindles and crime the industry has committed. They soon know exactly what is wrong, all the while slowly dieing inside from exhaustion. With this there are few options. The father was so worn out through this he caught a sickness and eventually died from it. Ona's brother Jonas was said to have taken his pay and left without warning, though it is possible this is the industry hiding an accident. This is how things start to go downhill and when Jurgis is sent to jail, its like an, i dunno, snowball effect. The family has no money, no food, and when Jurgis becomes free discovers no home.
This is an awful life to live, just living to survive everyday, and I'm not sure whats worse, dieing of exhaustion and starvation, or living well knowing your loved ones are dieing. Jurgis questioned this while he was in prison.
In the final chapter, something happens that changes Jurgis' world forever. Ona, while delivering her baby, passes on and in Jurgis' arms. At this point I'm not sure what Jurgis is gonna do, since it seemed as if he was living for Ona. Also i have come to not like this story at all. Tragedy after tragedy, i cant take it. Its so sad and I'm quite sure its not gonna change. I'm still interested, just maybe a happy ending would be nice.
Questions-
1. Is there no law or safety inspector in the area?
2. Who was that lady at the end anyways? How could she have helped Ona?
3. Why did the judge send Jurgis to jail with the only evidence being Connor's word? That doesnt seem right...
4. Why on earth would Jurgis bite a chunk out of Connor's face? Thats weird..
5. How could America let people live like this? Thats rediculous.
Garret,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how it was a snowball effect or something to that degree. I found it a good blog with how you showed it was going go and then goes into a nose dive.
garret! your blog is reallllllly good! I like how you both gave a summary and gave your opinion. I think it is also awesome that you're still interested in the book. I think you are one of very few. I think that it is ok that you don't like this story because you are still trying to give your brain hope for a happy(ish) ending.
ReplyDeleteGOOD JOB!
~Ashleigh~