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In The Jungle, the main character named Jurgis sees that everyone who comes into contact with capitalism is either taken advantage of in every way possible, or becomes greedy, dishonest, and materialistic, both of which Jurgis had experienced first hand, seeing the deceitfulness used by the political machine in the packing yards of Chicago. As the elections come around every year, Jurgis is bribed to vote under many different names, and is paid four dollars, equal to a week worth of work. Later in the novel, Jurgis becomes involved in the political machine. He becomes one of the henchmen for the political powers in the packing yards. After he gets put in jail, he is forced to buy his way out, which costs him everything he has. After he is forced to live like a tramp again, he feels helpless about his life. He misses how he used to live extravagantly, and wonders how he could have lived without it. "They were beaten; they had lost the game, they were swept aside. It was not less tragic because it was so sordid, because that it had to do with wages and grocery bills and rents. They had dreamt of freedom; of a chance to look about them and learn something; to be decent and clean, to see their child group up to be strong. And now it was all gone-it would never be!" (The Jungle, Upton Sinclair, 163).
Another character that finds the evils of capitalism is Marija, who is forced to rectify to herself, a life of prostitution and drug use caused by capitalism. When she first tries to get a job in the meat plants, she needs to bribe the forewomen in order to get the job. While Marija is trying to support the family without Jurgis, she is led to a life of prostitution, being the only obtainable job for her at the time. While living in the brothel, she is enveloped by morphine. Soon Marija is struck with the reality that she cannot support her family due to the capitalist mind set in Chicago.