Jurgis is the hero of 'The Jungle' - he is young, strong, full of ambition, kind & loving, moral, and ready to tackle any challenge. Where does he go wrong? What could or should he have done differently in order to be successful? Or did he not do anything wrong at all? If he did not, why does he fail so spectacularly?
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14 comments:
The whole book is a big fail, it starts with fail and is filled with so much fail that it really wasn't going to work out for Jurgis, I mean they were not well off (moneywise) before the wedding and then the fact that the other Lithuanians didn't chip in and pay was the worst thing that could happen to Jurgis and Ona, I don't think that there is one particular event that turns Jurgis bad, but he was slowly transforming from his arrival in the U.S to about chapter 29 when they start talking about Socialism in the rally and how it is the answer to everyones problems, specifically the lower classes and immigrants.
A warning to everyone - 'fail' is only a noun in conversational English. In academic writing, stick with 'failure.'
Declan - this is too easy. What is the point of making the book a 'big fail?' Isn't Jurgis supposed to be the hero? Normally, don't we expect the central character of a book to overcome great odds, and in the end save his family?
From the start of the book, Jurgis' intentions were good. He did what he had to do for him and his family to survive.I honestly think that Jurgis didn't really go wrong, it's just that the people he worked under were corrupt and didn't care, which allowed him or made him try to work more so that he could help his family. And also during his time of work business and factories weren't that great because they kept opening up and for a period of time it would work and then it would fail. So my thought is that Jurgis' failure is not all of his responsibility even though certain decisions in the book which he made were not the smartest.
When Jurgis and his family realize about the secret of their jobs, Jurgis gets a hint to go wrong. Then, when the family started to loose their job in winter, Jurgis got mad. I think at that point on Jurgis walks on a wrong way. Jurgis should not have drunken alcohol and use all of his money. I think he did graft since he needed more money. He should also have waited patiently for new jobs in winter and control his anger. He should have taken care of his family more. Then the bad occasion for Ona and Malija might not have happened. He should have saved the money he and his family earned, and using the money wisely. If he had done better, then he might have become like the well dressed woman he meets in the socialist meeting.
Jurgis' goal was always good. but the circumstances made his way go wrong.He worked really hard for his family but after his wife and child died he did not know what to do and the people he worked under were bad to him and cheated a lot in the case of salary.
I agree with Anumol that Jurgis’ goal in the beginning was good. But some of the family members
That's correct, he was good from start on but it was just the circumstances
I think that he was merely a victim of circumstance. There was nothing he could do to prevent what happed to him. He did his best throughout the book to provide and to care for his family. but he was not to only one to whom this happened. Many were out of work and merely trying to survive, it was just the time and place where Jurgis found himself in that made his life so hard.
I think that I have to dis agree with Mina because enif he had not drunken alcohol and used all of his money, and also waited patiently for new jobs in winter and controled his anger, and taken care of his family that he would still have been stuck where he end up with no job, no house, and no money. The little money the he did spend on alcohol would not have last long and saved his family i still think he would have done the same thing after he had spent all his money.
I think that Jurgis' purposes were good. As said before he worked for himself and his family, but i think that he went in the wrong direction when he started loosing his family. If you put yourself in the same situation he would be in, I probably would have lost my mind after seeing a family member die one after another, and in those circumstances where jobs don't pay well and living conditions are horrible, i would have done whatever i could to make my life easier.
I would agree with Min A there. I belive that even though Jurgis' "environment" was pretty bad, Jurgis too had some fault in it. Even though the working conditions and his "luck" were really bad, he should not have hesitated. Yes, bad fortune does happen sometimes or often but then one has to be strong and look forward. I guess if it were Uncle Tom, he would not have ended up like Jurgis.
To Hannes:
I don't think that if Jurgis "had not drunken alcohol and used all of his money, and also waited patiently for new jobs in winter and controled his anger, and taken care of his family" he would still go get drunk. because for example if he had taken care of his family, then surely his wife and son would not have died. if he did all those things mentioned above, I am sure that some improvements would have shown and there would have been no need for Jurgis to go out and drink.
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