The Jungle

Apply the idea that "immorality is inevitable in a capitalistic society" to Jurgis's actions in Chapter 11.

chapter eleven, Jurgis's accident and inability to work.

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In Chapter Eleven, Sinclair wages his criticism upon another institutional mechanism of capitalism, the banks. This part of the novel also follows Jurgis as he is first broken down by the weather, once again a metaphor for the larger social and economic systems of oppression, and then broken physically by an accident on the killing floor. These two events, which cause him to sprain his ankle and which keep him from work for over two months, are the first real hardships that Jurgis had ever gone through in his life. Jurgis is devastated by his inability to work, and the family is secretly frightened. Jurgis often tries to get out of bed and go to work, but Teta Elzbieta cares for him and makes sure he does not leave the bed. It is hard on the family because they cannot even get proper nutrition. Thus, the Capitalist strategy of making money at the least cost is reflected when Jurgis's body becomes a place of descent into suffering in the hell that is Packingtown.

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