Chapter 31 was a great final chapter to Sinclair’s socialist novel. I thought the overall mood of the chapter was much higher than most of the novel. Most of this chapter was socialist arguments that Sinclair integrated (kind of) into the story line. The chapter starts where Jurgis goes to see Marija; he tries to get Marija to quit prostitution. Marija explains how she is addicted to dope, and she can’t quit even though she wants to. I thought that it was a horrible story of what happens when you get involved with illegal drugs. (Even though they weren’t illegal at the time.) I was expecting Jurgis to plead his case, but Jurgis just leaves her to her job. I just wish that Jurgis never ran away because the family wouldn’t be going through this if didn’t run away in the first place. Jurgis then attends a meeting with a prominent socialist, Nicholas Schliemann, and a magazine editor. This is where Sinclair’s fight for socialism began in the chapter. I really liked how Schliemann really argued for socialism, and described most evils of the capitalistic way of things at that time. I thought it was also interesting how Jurgis never spoke during Schliemann’s spiel, even though Jurgis was supposed to describe the meat packing industry. At the end, Socialism makes a serious jump into the national spotlight by winning major races in the government. I really liked how inspirational the speaker was when he said, “The fight is not over yet … Chicago will be ours!” I really liked that, and thought it was the best ending of one of the MOST depressing books I have ever read.
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