The Jungle is a documentary about the unfair treatment of workers and the unsanitary conditions of a meat packing plant. The facilities that are described in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle showed the attitude of the people who lived in Packingtown. Jurgis Rudkus was the main character in The Jungle. The house, the meat packing plant, and the saloon all had significant meanings in the book. All three of the establishments affected the family of Jurgis and the people of Packingtown in ways that would change their lives.
Jurgis was affected the most of any characters by the establishments. Jurgis was affected by all three of the settings. Jurgis was a Lithuanian immigrant who came to Chicago looking for the American dream. Jurgis was engaged when he came to America, he married a young woman by the name of Ona shortly after he moved to America. The wedding is the beginning and the reason for the rough life of the family. The wedding of Jurgis and Ona puts them into a deep debt. It is customary in Lithuania for family, friends, and guest of the wedding to donate to help pay for the cost. The guest of the wedding didn't do this and it left Jurgis and Ona with a debt of more than a hundred dollars. This is the reason that Jurgis, Ona and the rest of their immediate family work so hard throughout the story.
Jurgis and Ona worked many jobs to try to pay the off the debt of the wedding. Jurgis and Ona both worked hard to pay the debt, that's one of the reasons why a strain is put on their family life. Jurgis and his family are a part of the working class under capitalism in Packingtown. Capitalism is when a few control the bulk of the money.