Literature Network » Upton Sinclair

Victims and villains in murder by abortion cases from turn-of-the-twentieth-century Chicago.

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From: TriQuarterly
Date: 20051222
Author:Frazier, Carolyn; Roberts, Dorothy

In The Jungle, published in 1906, Upton Sinclair renders one of literature's most disturbing portrayals of urban poverty by recounting the experiences of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who labors in the foul Chicago stockyards. Jurgis beats up the boss of the factory where his young wife, Ona, works when he discovers the boss has compelled Ona to have sex with him by threatening to fire her. Upon his release from jail, Jurgis finds a malnourished Ona screaming in pain from the throes of premature childbirth. He has no money to pay a doctor, so Jurgis desperately seeks out a ...

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