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Food
The squalor, hostility, and misery of Packingtown epitomizes the corruption, alienation, and poverty that Sinclair sees as consequences of runaway capitalism.
Packingtown Quotes in The Jungle
The The Jungle quotes below all refer to the symbol of Packingtown. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
All the sordid suggestions of the place were gone—in the twilight it was a vision of power.
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Packingtown Symbol Timeline in The Jungle
The timeline below shows where the symbol Packingtown appears in The Jungle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...trolley car that takes them to the stockyards. As they leave the city and approach Packingtown—the location of the stockyards on the outskirts of town—they are confronted by a strange and...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...it is nearly impossible for a man of his age to find a job in Packingtown.
(full context)
Chapter 5
...of his wages. Jurgis asks his friend Tamoszius Kuszleika about this, and Tamoszius explains that Packingtown is full of this kind of graft, with each person trying to exploit the person...
(full context)
Chapter 7
The children are not well. All the food and medicine available in Packingtown has been doctored with chemicals and dyes. It is impossible to find warm, quality clothing...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...down due to lack of demand and Marija is put out of work. She scours Packingtown and beyond for jobs, but is unable to find one.
(full context)
Chapter 9
...He learns about Mike Scully, an Irish Democrat who owns the dump and brickyard in Packingtown and who leads the "War Whoop League," a clubhouse full of supporters and policemen. Jurgis...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...on, she suffers from "womb trouble," headaches and pains that are common among women in Packingtown.
(full context)
Chapter 25
...of dollars for himself. He indulges in a tremendous drinking bender while the rest of Packingtown celebrates the election results, sardonically described by the narrator as the "crushing defeat of an...
(full context)
Chapter 26
...influx of new scabs from across the country heightens the tension of the strike, and Packingtown becomes still more violent, debauched, and squalid.
(full context)
Chapter 30
Jurgis even returns to Packingtown to distribute the papers, undoing the political work he had done there for Mike Scully...
(full context)
