"Poverty at Hull House" by Jane Adams is an in depth look at the social and economic conditions of America during the Industrial Revolution. Chapters 5, 7, and 8 cover a wide variety of topics expressed through the thoughts and actions of Jane Adams as she ventures through Chicago. The beginning of chapter 5 starts off by giving an analysis of the interdependency classes have on each other after a certain Mr. Davidson establishes that most people "lose themselves in the cave of their own companionship," Jane Adams refutes this by pointing out the numerous benefits of having a group setting as opposed to making people be more independent. The benefits of a group setting are the central reason for her wanting to establish the Hull house. She points out that the "Hull-House was soberly opened on the theory that the dependence of classes on each other is reciprocal; and that as the social relation is essentially a reciprocal relation, it gives a form of expression that has peculiar value." A central idea in this chapter is the expression of moral values like feeding the poor, or caring for the elderly. These values are what shape Jane Adams's cooperative worldview. .
Chapter 7 focuses on the challenges American workers faced with the poor standards imposed on companies by the U. S. Government. Extremely low pay and disgustingly long hours plagued the American work force to the point where most people struggled to even feed or spend any time with their families. Jane Adams also points out the moral ambiguity that comes with Business's. The competition that follows business is what drives the human race apart not together, Jane says this about it in 'Poverty at Hull House' "Yet this dream that men shall cease to waste strength in competition and shall come to pool their powers of production is coming to pass all over the face of the earth." Business may drive people apart but they unify easily under there own despair.
