page_title: The Jungle
section_title: Characters
hierarchical_section_title: The Jungle / Characters
context_page_description: The Jungle is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. The novel portrays the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry during the early 20th century, which greatly contributed to a public outcry which led to reforms including the Meat Inspection Act. Sinclair said of the public reaction, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
  The book depicts working-class poverty, lack of social supports, harsh and unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness among many workers. These elements are contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power. A review by the writer Jack London called it "the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery."
  Sinclair was considered a muckraker, a journalist who exposed corruption in government and business.
context_section_description: Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian who immigrates to the US and struggles to support his family.
  Ona Lukoszaite Rudkus, Jurgis' teenage wife.
  Marija Berczynskas, Ona's cousin. She dreams of marrying a musician. After Ona's death and Rudkus' abandonment of the family, she becomes a prostitute to help feed the few surviving children.
  Teta Elzbieta Lukoszaite, Ona's stepmother. She takes care of the children and eventually becomes a beggar.
  Grandmother Swan, another Lithuanian immigrant.
  Dede Antanas, Jurgis' father. He contributes work despite his age and poor health; dies from a lung infection.
  Jokubas Szedvilas, Lithuanian immigrant who owns a deli on Halsted Street.
  Edward Marcinkus, Lithuanian immigrant and friend of the family.
  Fisher, Chicago millionaire whose passion is helping poor people in slums.
  Tamoszius Kuszleika, a fiddler who becomes Marija's fiancé.
  Jonas Lukoszas, Teta Elzbieta's brother. He abandons the family in bad times and disappears.
  Stanislovas Lukoszas, Elzibeta's eldest son; he starts work at 14, with false documents that say he is 16.
  Mike Scully (originally Tom Cassidy), the Democratic Party "boss" of the stockyards.
  Phil Connor, a boss at the factory where Ona works. Connor rapes Ona and forces her into prostitution.
  Miss Henderson, Ona's forelady at the wrapping-room.
  Antanas, son of Jurgis and Ona, otherwise known as "Baby".
  Vilimas and Nikalojus, Elzbieta's second and third sons.
  Kristoforas, a crippled son of Elzbieta.
  Juozapas, another crippled son of Elzbieta.
  Kotrina, Elzbieta's daughter and Ona's half sister.
  Judge Pat Callahan, a crooked judge.
  Jack Duane, a thief whom Rudkus meets in prison.
  Madame Haupt, a midwife hired to help Ona.
  Freddie Jones, son of a wealthy beef baron.
  Buck Halloran, an Irish "political worker" who oversees vote-buying operations.
  Bush Harper, a man who works for Mike Scully as a union spy.
  Ostrinski, a Polish immigrant and socialist.
  Tommy Hinds, the socialist owner of Hinds's Hotel.
  Mr. Lucas, a socialist pastor and itinerant preacher.
  Nicholas Schliemann, a Swedish philosopher and socialist.
  Durham, a businessman and Jurgis's second employer.
caption: Men walking on wooden rails between cattle pens in the Chicago stockyard (1909)
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