The Jungle Chapters 1-3

I find the beginning of this book pointless. What is there to respond to really? In the first chapter, it talks about Jurgis and Ona's wedding, which is done in the traditional Lithuanian way. I am confused as to if their wedding was in America or not.  I find the second chapter to be very pointless. First of all, how is it related to the first chapter? The newly married couple, I believe, are just enjoying each others company walking around and boring me. It somewhat explains why he continuously says “I will work harder.”The third chapter starts by explaining how Jurgis receives his job really fast and I find that it is not very accurate because it is hard to find. Then it continues to explain how he has the rest of the day off and takes a tour of one of the major meatpacking companies. I found it very appalling and disturbing reading about what occurred to the meat and what these people saw. It is even worse that what these people saw that toured the company only saw the better and nice parts. The family should have stayed in their home country because then Ona and Jurgis could have then stayed at Jurgis’ home in the forest with his other family. From my understanding, they would have been better off. They would have clean food and water, shelter, and fresh air. They could have also just sent a few of the family instead of all of them going too. It would be better because there wouldn’t be as people to house, feed, and find work for.

Questions and Comments

1. What will be our focus on this book, the literary qualities or deficiencies or the workers?
2. Why would they leave for a place that they had only heard rumors about?
3. I do not like the beginning of this book, because of the way it started and the appalling content.
4. Why are Lithuanian weddings done in the way that anybody that walks in could be fed for free?
5. I think that after reading the first chapter that I will not eat as much meat and maybe become a vegetarian because of the appalling content that is yet to come. I was appalled by the meat being processed in chapter 3, in which the company allows the public to see and so I figure that I will be extremely disgusted by the behind the scenes content.