The Jungle

Nicholas Schliemann

Also known as Comrade Schliemann · Dr. Schliemann · Herr Dr. Schliemann

A Swedish philosopher and former university professor who lives simply in a Chicago slum and studies food and economics. A Socialist and self-described philosophical anarchist, he argues for cooperative domestic and agricultural systems and discusses how Socialism could improve public health and remove degrading labor.

Maynard

Also known as Mr. Maynard

An unnamed editor of a large Eastern magazine who writes against Socialism but wants to understand it. At Fisher’s gathering, he asks Schliemann about the proposed cooperative society; the college student later says that if he continues writing against Socialism, they will know he is a knave.

the college student

Also known as the beautiful girl

An unnamed, earnest young woman studying at college who attends Fisher’s gathering and listens intently to Schliemann. She asks how Socialism would change people’s eating habits and later tells Mrs. Fisher that Maynard’s continued attacks on Socialism would show him to be a knave.

the big Eastern magazine editor’s wife

Also known as the editor’s wife

An unnamed woman whose fifty-thousand-dollar diamond theft is invoked during the discussion of the bishop.

Mrs. Fisher

An unnamed, frail young woman married to Fisher, present at his gathering. After the discussion, she wonders whether Maynard will continue writing against Socialism.

the orator at the election-night meeting

Also known as the young head of the stockyards relief bureau

An unnamed, young, hungry-looking Socialist speaker who had headed the stockyards relief bureau until its misery and corruption sickened him. At the election-night gathering, he urges the party to organize the newly won voters and warns against resting on its electoral success.

the election-night bulletin readers

Also known as the men who read the despatches

Unnamed veteran campaigners who read election returns and telegrams to the Socialist gathering and add comments from their organizing experience.

Jurgis Rudkus

Also known as Jurgis

Ona’s widower and father of little Antanas. After returning to poverty, he is moved by a Socialist speaker, meets Comrade Ostrinski, and embraces the Socialist movement. He finds work as a porter at Tommy Hinds’s hotel and becomes an active speaker and campaign worker.

the man who speaks at the workers’ meeting

Also known as the Socialist speaker

An unnamed Socialist orator whose impassioned speech profoundly moves Jurgis and draws him into the movement. Exhausted after speaking, he directs Jurgis to Comrade Ostrinski for help learning about Socialism.

the chairman of the meeting

Also known as the chairman

An unnamed chairman who announces a collection, invites questions for the speaker, and speaks after the address.

the woman who asks about Tolstoy

Also known as a woman

An unnamed woman in the audience who asks the Socialist speaker about an opinion he expressed concerning Tolstoy.

the big man with spectacles

Also known as Walters

A large man who keeps the crowd back while the exhausted speaker rests, then helps connect Jurgis with Comrade Ostrinski.

Comrade Ostrinski

Also known as Ostrinski

A Polish Socialist, about fifty, who speaks Lithuanian and welcomes Jurgis into the movement. A former participant in the European proletarian movement, he supports his family by finishing trousers at home and explains Socialist organizing and ideas to Jurgis.

Ostrinski’s wife

An unnamed woman who works with Ostrinski finishing clothing at home and is ill when he meets Jurgis.

Ostrinski’s three young children

Also known as his three young children

Ostrinski’s unnamed children, living with him and his wife in the Ghetto district.

Ostrinski’s baby

Also known as a baby

Ostrinski’s newborn child, heard crying when Ostrinski brings Jurgis home.

Teta Elzbieta

Also known as Aunt Elizabeth · Elzbieta Lukoszaite

Ona’s stepmother and mother of six children. She remains focused on feeding and supporting the family, tolerates Jurgis’s new Socialist commitment so long as he works and contributes, and occasionally attends meetings with him.

the proprietor of Hinds’s hotel

Also known as “Tommy” Hinds · Comrade Hinds · Tommy Hinds

A Socialist organizer and speaker who employs Jurgis as a hotel porter and becomes his friend and mentor. Formerly a blacksmith’s helper and reform politician, he has spent years organizing for Socialism and uses his hotel as a center for political discussion.

the former porter at Hinds’s hotel

Also known as the other fellow

An unnamed hotel porter whom Hinds has repeatedly discharged for drinking; Jurgis takes his job.

Mrs. Hinds

Tommy Hinds’s wife, who works behind the hotel desk when the clerk is away campaigning.

the hotel clerk

Also known as the clerk

An unnamed old friend of Tommy Hinds, a former Kansas farmer and longtime opponent of the railroads. He works as Hinds’s hotel clerk and has joined the Socialist movement.

Amos Struver

The clerk at Hinds’s hotel, an old friend of Tommy Hinds and former Kansas farmer. After decades of opposing the railroads as a Granger, Farmers’ Alliance member, and Populist, he moved to Chicago and became a Socialist.

Harry Adams

A Massachusetts-born Socialist and assistant clerk at Hinds’s hotel. Formerly a cotton operative, he tried to organize mill workers in South Carolina, was imprisoned through the influence of a mill owner, and later came to Chicago; he introduces Jurgis to political knowledge and brings him to meet Fisher.

Harry Adams’s family

Also known as his family

The unnamed family who had to work in South Carolina’s cotton mills to support themselves and later left the state with Harry Adams.

Tommy Hinds’s only brother

Also known as his only brother

An unnamed brother of Tommy Hinds who died after a defective musket broke during the Civil War.

the Little Giant

An unnamed Socialist speaker, known for his enormous head and short legs, who wrote a large encyclopedia on Socialism.

the young author from California

An unnamed Socialist writer and speaker who had worked as a salmon fisher, oyster pirate, longshoreman, and sailor, among other jobs. His books depict his experiences among the poor, and he continues preaching their cause after becoming famous.

the millionaire Socialist

An unnamed Socialist who made a business fortune and spent most of it building a magazine that the post office tried to suppress. He presents Socialism as the workers’ necessary means of survival through collective organization.

the president of the railroad union

Also known as the president of the union

An unnamed union leader who was imprisoned without trial after a major railroad strike and emerged physically ruined but committed to Socialism. For ten years he has traveled the country pleading for justice.

the Colorado real-estate speculator

An unnamed man who retired from real-estate speculation and founded the Socialist weekly Appeal to Reason. He persisted through hardship until the publication became widely circulated.

the pitchfork senator

Also known as the South Carolina fire-eater

An unnamed senator from South Carolina whom Scully’s political machine brings to Packingtown to address workers. He denounces and swears at his audience, but leaves after facing their questions.

Mike Scully

Also known as Scully

A powerful Irish Democratic boss who previously used Jurgis in local politics. As Socialists gain ground in Packingtown, Scully and the Cook County machine struggle to find a campaign issue and summon the pitchfork senator.

the friend of Harry Adams

An unnamed acquaintance of Harry Adams who sends a telephone message asking him to bring Jurgis to meet Fisher.

Fisher

Also known as Young Fisher

A Chicago millionaire who has devoted himself to settlement work and lives in a small home in the city slums. Sympathetic to Socialism, he brings Jurgis to a gathering with an Eastern magazine editor and several Socialists.

Fisher’s wife

Also known as the former’s frail young wife

An unnamed, frail young woman married to Fisher, present at his gathering.

the kindergarten teacher

Also known as the elderly lady

An unnamed elderly woman who teaches kindergarten at Fisher’s settlement.

Lucas

Also known as Comrade Lucas

A former itinerant evangelist who became a Socialist preacher. He argues that Jesus’s teachings condemn wealth and oppression and can inspire people to act for social change.

the bishop whose wife was robbed

Also known as the bishop

An unnamed bishop mentioned by Schliemann as having a wife whose diamonds worth fifty thousand dollars were stolen. Lucas criticizes the bishop’s wealth and public image as a friend of labor.

the other porter at Hinds’s

An unnamed, sharp Irish hotel porter who teaches Jurgis about American geography, history, government, business, railroads, corporations, unions, and labor leaders.

the three ladies at Fisher’s gathering

Also known as three of them were ladies

Three unnamed women present at Fisher’s gathering; one is his wife, another teaches kindergarten at the settlement, and the third is a college student.

Mrs. Murphy of San Francisco

An unnamed woman cited in the Appeal to Reason as having starved to death on the streets of San Francisco.

John Robinson

An unnamed man cited in the Appeal to Reason as having hanged himself in New York after leaving the hospital unable to find work.

Henry D. Lloyd

A writer whose book Wealth versus Commonwealth exposed the Standard Oil Company; Tommy Hinds cites him in an argument about how the press and government treat trusts.

the man who wrote the strike appeal

An unnamed writer of an incendiary manifesto urging workers who lost their strike to organize and continue the fight. The appeal is distributed among Packingtown workers.

Harry Adams’s friend

An unnamed Socialist who joins Harry Adams in restraining Jurgis when he angrily interrupts the pitchfork senator’s meeting.

Marija Berczynskas

Also known as Cousin Marija · Lithuanian Mary

Ona’s cousin, who works in a brothel and supports Elzbieta’s family. Jurgis tries to persuade her to leave the brothel, but she says she cannot stop using drugs and sees no other way to live.

Ona Lukoszaite

Jurgis’s late wife and mother of little Antanas. Her death and the family’s hardships remain a source of grief for Jurgis.

the children supported by Marija

Also known as the children

Elzbieta’s children, whom Marija helps support. Their life on the streets has left the boys unruly.

the magazine editor who writes against Socialism

Also known as the editor

Maynard, an unnamed editor of a large Eastern magazine who writes against Socialism but wants to understand it. He attends a discussion at Fisher’s home and questions Schliemann about the proposed cooperative economy.

the Chicago millionaire who gave up his life to settlement work

Also known as Fisher · Young Fisher

A Chicago millionaire who has devoted his life to settlement work and is sympathetic to Socialism. He hosts a discussion at his home and contributes questions about the waste of fraud.

the “Appeal” office helpers

Also known as the Army’s office helpers

Unnamed employees of the Appeal to Reason, known to its readership by nicknames such as “Inky Ike,” “the Bald-headed Man,” “the Redheaded Girl,” “the Bulldog,” “the Office Goat,” and “the One Hoss.”

the mayor

An unnamed city mayor who boasts of having ended gambling and prize fighting, even as gambling and prize fights continue among the strikebreakers.

the professional gamblers

Unnamed gamblers who work with the police to fleece strikebreakers.

the brawny Black prizefighters

Unnamed Black men who fight each other for money in the open space before Brown’s during the strike.

the gray-headed Black woman preacher

Also known as the old, gray-headed Negress

An unnamed woman who chants and preaches about damnation and the blood of the Lamb near the stockyards, while distressed listeners fall into convulsions.

the superintendent who summons Jurgis and his gang

Also known as the superintendent

An unnamed superintendent who calls Jurgis and his gang away from work to help respond to strikers who have taken escaped cattle.

the strikers who take the steer

Also known as the strikers

Unnamed strikers who seize escaped cattle; some kill and butcher a steer before police and strikebreakers arrive.

the police who attack the crowd

Also known as the policemen

Unnamed officers who accompany Jurgis’s gang to punish people accused of taking a steer. They beat people indiscriminately and loot a saloon.

the Polish saloon owner

Also known as the big Polish woman

An unnamed woman who owns the saloon entered by Jurgis and two policemen. She is knocked down and restrained while the men steal from her bar and cash drawer.

Jurgis’s three friends from the other trucks

Also known as three friends

Unnamed strikebreakers who rode on other trucks with Jurgis during the raid; afterward, they go downtown to supper and a roulette parlor with him.

the woman in the greasy kimono

Also known as the painted-cheeked woman

An unnamed woman who takes the drunken Jurgis into a dark room near the place where he sleeps, just before Connor enters.

Connor

Also known as Phil Connor

A Brown’s foreman who coerced Ona and helped ruin Jurgis’s family. Jurgis attacks him again; Connor’s political influence makes Harper fear helping Jurgis and leaves Jurgis facing serious criminal consequences.

the policeman who beats Jurgis unconscious after the Connor attack

Also known as a policeman

An unnamed officer who arrives during Jurgis’s attack on Connor and beats Jurgis unconscious.

the magistrate who sets Jurgis’s bail after the Connor attack

Also known as a different magistrate

An unnamed magistrate who remands Jurgis on five hundred dollars’ bail after Connor is injured.

the night watchman at Brown’s

Also known as Harper · “Bush” Harper

A political operative and paid informant for the packers who helped Jurgis in earlier political dealings. After learning Jurgis attacked Phil Connor, he fears Connor’s influence but arranges to reduce Jurgis’s bail to three hundred dollars, secretly planning to keep the money if Jurgis fails to appear.

the boss who dismisses the starving Jurgis

Also known as a boss

An unnamed boss who briefly gives Jurgis work in a warehouse district, then dismisses him for being too weak and replaces him with another man.

the Chicago newspaper that opens a free-soup kitchen

An unnamed newspaper that opens a free-soup kitchen for unemployed men; the narrator says its motives are disputed.

the Black saloonkeeper who runs the stale-beer dive

Also known as the Negro who kept the stale-beer dive

An unnamed man who collects leftover beer, alters it with chemicals, and sells it cheaply, with a place on the floor to sleep included.

the old lady who buys Jurgis a meal

Also known as an old lady

An unnamed woman who accepts Jurgis’s hard-luck story and buys him a meal at a restaurant.

the candidate for vice-president

Also known as the orator of the evening

An unnamed political candidate who speaks at a Republican campaign meeting attended by Jurgis.

Senator Spareshanks

Also known as the famous and eloquent Senator Spareshanks

A presidential candidate who previously campaigned for Doyle and helped elect Mike Scully’s candidate. Jurgis encounters him again at a Republican rally, where he delivers a speech supporting protectionist policies.

the audience member who calls Jurgis a bum

Also known as a voice

An unnamed person at Senator Spareshanks’s meeting who jokes that Jurgis is being thrown out, prompting the audience to laugh.

the policeman who ejects Jurgis from Spareshanks’s meeting

Also known as a policeman

An unnamed officer who drags Jurgis from the campaign hall after he falls asleep and snores.

Alena Jasaityte

Also known as Jadvyga Marcinkus · Jasaityte

A former can-painting worker who was the belle of Jurgis and Ona’s wedding feast and was engaged to Juozas Raczius. After Juozas left her, she found a good place elsewhere; she meets the destitute Jurgis in Chicago and directs him to Marija.

Juozas Raczius

Alena Jasaityte’s former fiancé, a Durham’s teamster who later left her for another woman.

the young Black servant at Marija’s house

Also known as the young colored girl · the Negress

An unnamed servant who answers the door at the house where Marija lives, initially denies that Marija is there, then raises the alarm when police arrive.

the madame of the house where Marija works

Also known as the stout woman with diamond earrings · Polly Simpson · Madame Polly

The brothel’s madame, known in court as Polly Simpson. During a police raid, she directs the occupants through escape routes, negotiates with the sergeant, and pays the women’s fines.

the policemen conducting the brothel raid

Also known as the police

Unnamed officers who raid the house where Marija works, round up its occupants, and take them to the station.

the frightened young girl at the raid

Also known as the young girl who had fainted

An unnamed woman at the brothel who faints during the police raid and is supported by two men.

the man blocking the roof trapdoor

Also known as the man at the top

An unnamed man at the top of the ladder who cannot open the roof trapdoor because someone is sitting on it.

the black-eyed young woman at the raid

Also known as the black-eyed young girl

An unnamed woman who perches on the stair balustrade and kicks at the policemen’s helmets before one pulls her down.

the girls waiting in the hall during the raid

Also known as the other girls

Unnamed women who sit on trunks in the hallway, joking with the police as the raid proceeds.

the big policeman who hurries Marija

Also known as a big policeman

An unnamed officer who urges Marija to get dressed during the raid.

the police sergeant in charge of the raid

Also known as Billy

An unnamed sergeant who conducts the roundup and refuses the madame’s request to release Jurgis.

the judge who hears Jurgis’s raid case

Also known as the judge

An unnamed judge who lets Jurgis go after hearing he was looking for his sister and fines the women at the brothel.

the court clerk who recognizes Jurgis

Also known as the clerk

An unnamed clerk who previously handled Jurgis’s case and now seems to recognize him.

the police captain of the district

Also known as the police captain

An unnamed police official whose friend is expected to advise the judge about the case involving Polly Simpson.

the little French girl at the brothel

Also known as the French girl with the yellow hair

An unnamed young woman who was deceived into coming to America for factory work, drugged, and forced into prostitution. Marija says she is developing frightening episodes from drinking absinthe.

the store clerk forced into prostitution

Also known as the little French girl

An unnamed French woman who was recruited abroad as a store clerk for supposed factory work, drugged, and forced into prostitution. She was confined for ten months before being sent away and is now at Marija’s brothel.

the French girl who escaped by jumping from a window

An unnamed woman brought to America with the French girl who was forced into prostitution. She escaped by jumping from a second-story window and became insane.

the Jewish girl at the brothel

Also known as the little Jewish girl

An unnamed woman who used to run errands for a milliner. After illness cost her job and she went hungry for days, she entered prostitution in exchange for food.

the colored woman who waits on Marija

Also known as a colored woman

An unnamed servant who brings Marija’s food order to her room.

the colored girl who summons Marija

Also known as another colored girl

An unnamed servant who tells Marija that the madame wants her.

Elzbieta’s neighbor, Mrs. Olszewski

Also known as Mrs. Olszewski

A neighbor of Aniele whose husband is a skilled cattle butcher and drinks. She contributes money toward getting help for Ona.

Tamoszius Kuszleika

Also known as the socialist street-corner speaker

Marija’s former beloved and a violinist who had spoken as a Socialist. Marija says blood poisoning cost him a finger and that he left more than a year earlier.

the young woman who calls Jurgis ‘comrade’

Also known as the lady beside Jurgis

An unnamed, well-dressed young woman seated beside Jurgis at the workers’ meeting. She gently urges him to listen to the speaker.

the station-house prisoners from the brothel raid

Also known as the men

Unnamed men arrested in the brothel raid and taken to the station house with Jurgis.

the women fined after the brothel raid

Also known as the girls

Unnamed women arrested at the brothel and fined five dollars each; the madame pays their fines together.

the country Negro strikebreakers

Also known as the ignorant country Negroes

Black men recruited from the countryside to break the stockyard strike. The passage describes them as exploited by those who hire them and later abandon them.

the strikebreakers housed at the stockyards

Also known as the army of fifteen or twenty thousand human beasts

A large, unnamed body of strikebreakers who camp in the stockyards during the strike. They face squalid, dangerous conditions and are subjected to relentless work.

the unnamed gambling-house madame

Also known as the madame

An unnamed brothel operator who uses drugs and debt to keep newly arrived women from leaving; Marija describes her methods while explaining the brothel’s business.

the young girl choosing between prostitution and drowning

An unnamed young woman in Chicago whom the Socialist speaker invokes as an example of someone driven by hunger and abuse toward prostitution or suicide.

the children of the floorsman killed at Jones’s

The unnamed children of the floorsman killed at Jones’s, who were left alone for three days before being discovered and taken away.

the narrator

A narrator who recounts Jurgis’s return to poverty and his encounter with Marija, then reports the Socialist speaker’s address and its effect on Jurgis.

the butler

Also known as Hamilton

Freddie Jones’s butler. He watches Jurgis closely, later orders him out of the house, threatens to search him, and kicks him down the steps.

the liveried servant carrying the table

An unnamed servant who brings a folding table into Freddie Jones’s study with two attendants carrying food and wine.

the two tray-bearing attendants

Unnamed attendants who bring covered trays of food into Freddie Jones’s study.

Admiral Dewey

Also known as Dewey

Freddie Jones’s large bulldog, valued as a prize-winning show dog. He growls at Jurgis and watches him while Freddie sleeps.

Charlie Jones

Also known as Freddie’s big brother

Freddie Jones’s older brother, who is in love with the actress who plays Little Bright-Eyes. Their planned marriage was stopped by their father’s threat to disinherit him; Charlie has gone away in his automobile with her.

Little Bright-Eyes

An actress who plays a role in The Kaliph of Kamskatka and was engaged to Charlie Jones. Freddie says their marriage was thwarted when his father offered her money.

Gwendolen Jones

Also known as sister Gwendolen

Freddie Jones’s sister, who married an Italian marquis. She asked their father for help after her husband began throwing breakfast dishes at her.

the Italian marquis

Also known as Gwendolen’s husband

Gwendolen Jones’s husband, an Italian nobleman with many titles and a dueling record. Freddie says he began throwing breakfast dishes at her.

the bartender who steals Jurgis’s change

Also known as Jake · the bartender · the barkeeper

A husky saloon bartender who takes Freddie’s hundred-dollar bill from Jurgis, gives him only the price of a beer, and denies keeping the rest. He helps beat Jurgis and testifies against him in court.

the two men who rush into the saloon

Unnamed men who enter the saloon during Jurgis’s fight with the bartender and join in subduing him.

the policeman who arrests Jurgis after the saloon fight

Also known as Billy · the officer

An unnamed policeman who clubs Jurgis unconscious after the bartender falsely claims he has a knife, then takes him to the station and court.

the magistrate who sentences Jurgis for the saloon fight

Also known as the magistrate · his Honor

An unnamed magistrate who dismisses Jurgis’s account of the stolen money and sentences him to ten days and costs.

Jack Duane

Also known as the cracksman cellmate · Duane

A safe-breaker who befriends Jurgis in prison and draws him into theft and Chicago’s criminal underworld. He later helps Jurgis rob an insurance agent and introduces him to contacts in gambling and vice.

the pretty French girl, Duane’s mistress

Also known as Marie

An unnamed French woman who sews during the day and supplements her living through prostitution. She is Duane’s mistress and briefly joins him while he is hiding from police.

the proprietor of Papa Hanson’s dive

Also known as Papa Hanson

An unnamed man who keeps the cellar dive where Duane hides. He is described as reliable to criminals who pay him and as giving warning before police raids.

Rosensteg

A pawnbroker who buys stolen goods from Duane for a fraction of their value and hides them.

the workingman robbed by Jurgis and Duane

An unnamed passerby whom Jurgis and Duane assault and rob. He is an insurance agent; his injuries are severe, and he loses three fingers.

the newspaper reporter who interviews the victim’s family

Also known as the enterprising newspaper reporter

An unnamed reporter who takes details of the robbery to the injured insurance agent’s family and reports their reaction.

the bartender who helps Jurgis and Duane escape

Also known as the bartender

An unnamed bartender who signals Jurgis and Duane, opens a cellar door after their robbery, and helps them escape through connected buildings.

Goldberger

Also known as the little Jew

A runner at a sporting house who introduces Jurgis and Duane to criminal opportunities, including a horse-racing tip from a police captain.

the professional cardsharp

Also known as the gambler

An unnamed cardsharp who struck Goldberger during a quarrel over a woman. Goldberger proposes having him attacked, but later says the man has left town.

One-eyed Larry

Also known as Larry

A lame violinist and popular character in Chicago’s vice district. A dance hall holds a benefit ball for him.

“Buck” Halloran

Also known as Halloran

An Irish political worker who brings Jurgis into election fraud and introduces him to the district’s criminal and political networks. He helps secure Jurgis’s release after a later arrest.

the district leader

An unnamed political boss whom Halloran contacts to get Jurgis bailed out; he also speaks to the court clerk to secure a suspended fine for Jurgis.

the country customer

Also known as the out-of-town buyer

An unnamed buyer for an out-of-town merchant whom Jurgis and Duane rob after he leaves a saloon.

the police captain who supplies racing tips

Also known as the police captain of the district

An unnamed police captain who has connections to a horse-racing syndicate and supplies Goldberger with race tips.

the other man playing cards with Jurgis and Halloran

An unnamed man who tells a story about Halloran and a deal to split newly arrived Italian voters between political parties.

the night watchman who catches Duane

An unnamed watchman who catches Jack Duane drilling a safe and turns him over to a policeman.

the policeman who lets Duane escape

An unnamed policeman who knows Duane and allows him to escape after the night watchman catches him. The ensuing newspaper uproar forces Duane to leave town.

the rich brewer

Also known as the Hebrew brewer · the Jewish brewer

An unnamed wealthy Jewish brewer who finances a political campaign in hopes of becoming an alderman. His money is redirected to support Republican candidate Doyle.

the Republican ward leader

An unnamed political leader who meets Jurgis and organizes the Republican campaign operation in the ward.

“Scotty” Doyle

Also known as Doyle

A Republican aldermanic candidate and former tenpin setter. Backed by money from the brewer and political support organized by Jurgis, he wins the election.

Mr. Harmon

Also known as one of the head managers of Durham’s

A senior manager at Durham’s who hires Jurgis after receiving Mike Scully’s note and directs the timekeeper to place him with Pat Murphy.

Pat Murphy

Also known as “Pat” Murphy

A boss in Durham’s hog-killing room who accepts Jurgis back at work and later sends him to a superintendent during the strike.

the superintendent who promotes Jurgis during the strike

Also known as the superintendent

An unnamed Durham’s superintendent who asks about Jurgis’s killing-room experience and offers him a foreman’s role organizing strikebreakers.

the big butcher who leads the renewed strike

Also known as the butcher president

An unnamed cattle butcher and president of the Packing Trades Council. After being repeatedly passed over for reinstatement, he declares a new strike and leads workers out of the yards.

the committee of three workers

Three unnamed workers chosen by their fellow butchers to appeal to the superintendent after union men are denied reinstatement. Police repeatedly club them back from the door.

the old man Jones

An unnamed packer who vows to cut wages further during labor negotiations.

the wealthy Chicago business men

Unnamed business leaders who finance the city’s political machine and maintain its network of officials, contractors, and other agents.

Hinkydink

A Chicago political figure described as a dive proprietor and a member of the city council faction that gives streets to business interests.

Bathhouse John

A Chicago political figure described as a dive proprietor and a member of the city council faction that gives streets to business interests.

the Republican candidate’s speechwriter

Also known as one of Scully’s henchmen

An unnamed political operative who writes a short campaign speech for Doyle, which Doyle spends a month memorizing.

the precinct captain

An unnamed political organizer who gives Jurgis money to buy votes on election day.

the union stewards and delegates

Packinghouse union representatives whom Durham’s excludes from reinstatement after the strike settlement.

the union president passed over for reinstatement

Also known as the big butcher

An unnamed cattle butcher and president of the Packing Trades Council who is repeatedly denied reinstatement. His rejection sparks the workers’ renewed strike.

the newspapermen with notebooks

Unnamed reporters who stand nearby after the staged street confrontation involving Jurgis and other strikebreakers.

the strikebreakers who confront Jurgis and his companions

Unnamed men who approach Jurgis and three companions outside the yards, taunt them, and help provoke a brief fight that newspapers portray as a mob attack.

the superintendent at the reinstatement line

An unnamed Durham’s superintendent who selects workers to return after the strike settlement while passing over union stewards and delegates.

the steelworks gatekeeper

Also known as the gatekeeper

An unnamed employee at the steelworks entrance who questions Jurgis and sends his sealed letter to its addressee.

the steelworks messenger

Also known as the messenger

An unnamed messenger who tells Jurgis to wait after delivering his letter at the steelworks.

the steelworks timekeeper

Also known as the company timekeeper

An unnamed company employee who interviews Jurgis and takes him through the steelworks while looking for a job for him.

the steelworks superintendent

Also known as the superintendent

An unnamed superintendent at the steelworks, addressed by the settlement worker’s letter. He is busy when Jurgis arrives, and the timekeeper tries to find Jurgis work.

the steelworks foremen

Also known as the foremen

Unnamed foremen whom the timekeeper asks whether they can use an unskilled worker. One of them, overseeing the movement of finished rails, gives Jurgis a job.

the rail-mill boss

Also known as the boss at the end of the rail’s progress

An unnamed boss at the end of the rail-making process who hires Jurgis to move finished rails with crowbars.

Jurgis’s Polish lodging-house acquaintance

Also known as one of his fellow workingmen

An unnamed fellow worker who introduces Jurgis to a Polish lodging-house where he can sleep on the floor.

the Polish lodging-house keeper

An unnamed lodging-house keeper who rents Jurgis a place on the floor for ten cents a night.

the steelworks company doctor

Also known as the company doctor

An unnamed doctor who bandages Jurgis’s burned hand after he is injured rescuing two workers, but gives him no compensation for the eight days he misses.

the two workers burned by molten steel

Two unnamed steelworks workers sprayed with liquid steel when a furnace blows out. Jurgis rushes to help them and burns his hand.

the steelworks worker whose foot is crushed

Also known as the man who stumbled in front of a car

An unnamed rail-mill worker whose foot is crushed beneath a moving car while he runs at work.

Antanas Rudkus

Also known as little Antanas

Jurgis and Ona’s son, now a lively toddler who is his father’s chief comfort and hope. He drowns after falling from the raised sidewalk into the muddy street.

Juozapas

Elzbieta’s disabled son, who spends much of his time scavenging at the dump.

poni Aniele

Also known as old Mrs. Jukniene · Aniele · old Mrs. Jukniene

A widowed woman who keeps a poor boardinghouse. She tells Jurgis that Antanas has drowned and tries to stop him from going up to the garret.

the women gathered at Aniele’s

Also known as the excited women

Unnamed women gathered in Aniele’s kitchen when Jurgis returns home; their silence and distress signal that something terrible has happened.

the farmer who sells Jurgis breakfast

Also known as the farmer greasing a wagon

An unnamed farmer who initially refuses Jurgis food because he will not work, then directs him to his wife, who sells him a meal.

the woman who sells Jurgis breakfast

Also known as the farmer’s wife

An unnamed woman at the farm who sells Jurgis sandwiches, pie, and apples.

the farmer who refuses Jurgis supper

An unnamed farmer who calls Jurgis a tramp and turns him away. Jurgis retaliates by uprooting more than a hundred of his young peach trees.

the farmer who offers Jurgis seasonal work

An unnamed farmer who gives Jurgis supper and a night in his barn, then offers him work for a dollar a day and board until November. Jurgis challenges the insecurity of seasonal employment before continuing on his way.

the wife of the farmer who offers Jurgis seasonal work

Also known as the farmer’s wife

An unnamed woman who serves Jurgis a generous supper and breakfast at her home.

the White Russian workingman

Also known as the Slav homeowner

An unnamed recent immigrant from White Russia who welcomes Jurgis into his home during a thunderstorm and talks with him about their experiences in America.

the White Russian workingman’s wife

An unnamed woman who prepares supper and bathes her youngest baby as Jurgis visits her family’s home.

the White Russian workingman’s baby

Also known as the youngest baby

An unnamed, sturdy baby whose cheerful bath reminds Jurgis of his dead son and brings his grief to the surface.

the doctor who treats the White Russian baby

An unnamed doctor who advises the baby’s mother to bathe him each night to treat a rash.

the men who travel with Jurgis

Also known as his fellows

Unnamed homeless laborers who travel by freight train with Jurgis and later share the harvest-season work and revelry.

the harvest gang

An unnamed group of laborers that Jurgis joins for two weeks of harvest work in Missouri.

the red-cheeked girl in the saloon

Also known as the girl

An unnamed woman who smiles at Jurgis in a saloon during harvest season, sits beside him, and takes him upstairs.

the saloonkeeper who shares in the women’s earnings

Also known as the saloon-keepers

A saloonkeeper, described as part of a broader practice, who shares earnings with women who seek customers among traveling laborers.

the woman who shares Jurgis’s night of debauchery

An unnamed woman who joins Jurgis and others in a night of drinking and sexual revelry.

the women who follow the laborers

Also known as the army of women

Women who travel to harvest towns, lumber camps, and other places where laborers gather, seeking a living through prostitution.

Jurgis’s thunderstorm host’s children

Also known as the workingman’s children

Unnamed children in the White Russian workingman’s family who play on the floor and sleep in a closet.

the brakeman

An unnamed railway worker who shakes his fist and swears at Jurgis when he climbs off a freight train in the countryside.

Jurgis’s fellow tramps

Also known as the professional tramps

Homeless travelers who teach Jurgis how to find food, shelter, and work on the road. Many are former workers who gave up after years of struggling.

the workingmen who seek harvest jobs

Also known as the surplus labor army

Homeless, wandering laborers who follow seasonal work from the southern harvests northward and then seek winter jobs.

the farmers who hold up trains

Also known as the frantic farmers

Farmers who stop trains and carry off laborers when they urgently need help with their harvests.

the saloonkeeper who refuses Jurgis a place as a sitter

Also known as the proprietor

An unnamed keeper of a low-class saloon where Jurgis hopes to sit by the fire. The place has no room for him because the market for such paid attractions is full.

the bartender who tips Jurgis about the revival

Also known as the bartender

An unnamed bartender who recognizes Jurgis, lets him doze at a table, and tells him about a religious revival offering warmth and shelter.

the revival pianist

Also known as the young lady

An unnamed young woman who plays piano at a religious revival where Jurgis seeks shelter from the cold.

the three elderly men at the revival

Also known as the three elderly gentlemen

Unnamed men in black on the revival platform. One of them, a tall, thin, smooth-shaven speaker in black spectacles, preaches about sin and redemption.

the evangelist at the revival

Also known as the tall, smooth-shaven man

An unnamed, tall and thin speaker with black spectacles who preaches about sin, redemption, and God’s grace to the crowded revival.

the men turned away from the station house

Also known as the crowd outside the station house

Unnamed homeless men who fight for access to a station house during a severe cold spell; Jurgis is among those left outside.

the professional beggars

Also known as the organized and scientific professionals

Unnamed people who beg using carefully staged injuries and hardship stories. Some have comfortable homes or profit by training and outfitting other beggars.

the sick child hired to beg

An unnamed child hired to carry a cup for a beggar who pretends to have lost both arms.

the pretty little dogs who guide blind beggars

Dogs used by some professional beggars who pretend to be blind.

the young man in the silk hat

Also known as Master Freddie · Freddie Jones · Frederick · Master Frederick

A wealthy, drunken young man, a little over eighteen, who encounters Jurgis while he is begging. He invites Jurgis to his home, gives him a hundred-dollar bill, and introduces him to his family’s butler.

Aunt Polly

Also known as Polly

Freddie Jones’s aunt, who is in the hospital having twins. Freddie says she was assigned to watch him.

Freddie Jones’s father

Also known as the guv’ner · the governor

A wealthy man who is abroad and has ordered Freddie to return home every night. Freddie says his father controls his allowance and calls him a hard man to handle.

Bubby

A person in Freddie’s household who is away on a honeymoon; Freddie mentions Bubby but does not explain their relationship to him.

Kitty

Also known as Kittens

A woman Freddie leaves behind in a flat when he goes home. He recounts that she urged him to take a cab and says he left her crying.

the cab driver

Also known as the cabbie

An unnamed driver who initially objects to Jurgis entering the cab, then takes him and Freddie to Freddie’s home.

the liveried doorman

Also known as the man in blue livery · the blue automaton

An unnamed servant who opens the door at Freddie Jones’s home and takes Freddie’s hat and coat.

the second liveried servant

Also known as the other

An unnamed servant in uniform who goes outside to pay the cab driver after Hamilton signals him.

Jones the packer

Also known as the guv’ner

A wealthy packer whose mansion Freddie identifies as his father’s home. Freddie mocks his business fortune and refers to his friendship with workers as a public pose.

the Irish tunnel-work hiring man

Also known as the big Irishman

An unnamed man behind a desk who hires Jurgis for underground telephone-tunnel work after Jurgis claims to be from Kansas City.

Jurgis’s tunnel gang

Also known as his gang

Unnamed laborers who work with Jurgis in the underground freight tunnels. One night an engine and loaded car hit him as they leave work.

the young surgeon at the county hospital

Also known as the young surgeon

An unnamed surgeon who sets Jurgis’s broken arm after a tunnel accident.

the county hospital patients

Also known as the maimed and mangled men

Unnamed injured men sharing a hospital ward with Jurgis.

the county hospital authorities

Also known as the hospital authorities

Unnamed hospital staff who discharge Jurgis after two weeks because he no longer needs immediate care and his bed is needed for someone more severely injured.

Jurgis’s landlady

Also known as the landlady

An unnamed landlady who has rented out Jurgis’s room while he is in the hospital and has no place for him when he returns.

Jurgis’s boardinghouse keeper

Also known as the boardinghouse keeper

An unnamed woman who questions Jurgis after his hospital stay and decides not to let him board on credit while he is injured.

the saloonkeeper who rents Jurgis warmth

Also known as the saloon-keeper

An unnamed keeper of a saloon Jurgis frequents during the cold spell. He allows Jurgis to remain only while he pays for drinks.

Jurgis’s Bohemian workingman acquaintance

Also known as the rat-eyed Bohemian workingman

An unnamed man Jurgis knows from the stockyards who once took him to a low-class saloon district to seek a woman.

the three men on the revival platform

Also known as the elderly gentlemen in black

Unnamed elderly men who sit on the platform at the revival. One preaches while the others are present with him.

the young man who hires Jurgis for tunnel work

Also known as the big Irishman behind a desk

An unnamed Irish hiring man who gives Jurgis a job digging underground tunnels for telephone wires.

Stanislovas

Elzbieta’s eldest child, who works at a lard machine. He visits Jurgis in jail with news that the family is starving, that Ona has lost her job, and that he and Kotrina sell newspapers.

Kotrina

One of Elzbieta’s daughters. She sells newspapers with the boys and earns nearly three dollars, which Jurgis takes after Ona’s death.

the jail keeper

Also known as the keeper

An unnamed jail employee who tells Jurgis when his time is up and touches his arm as he returns to breaking stone after Stanislovas’s visit.

the rent collector

Also known as the man who came for the rent

An unnamed man who demands the family’s rent and threatens to turn them out; after they are evicted, the house is repainted and sold again.

the newly arrived householder’s son

Also known as the big, fat, rosy-cheeked youngster

An unnamed boy living in the house after Jurgis’s family is evicted. He tells Jurgis that he lives there and calls his mother when Jurgis claims the house.

the Irish woman who bought the house

Also known as the stout Irishwoman

An unnamed woman who bought the family’s former house three days earlier. She says she was told it was new and has no knowledge of where Jurgis’s family went.

the elderly Majauszkiene widow

Also known as Grandmother Majauszkiene

An elderly Lithuanian widow who lives nearby and has explained the house’s history and contract to the family. She tells Jurgis that they were evicted for failing to pay and had gone back to Aniele Jukniene’s.

the cattle butcher husband

Also known as Mrs. Olszewski’s husband

An unnamed skilled cattle butcher, husband of Mrs. Olszewski, who drinks. He is mentioned but does not appear directly.

Madame Haupt

Also known as Madame Haupt Hebamme

A Dutch midwife who agrees to attend Ona after Jurgis gives her the family’s last money and promises to pay more. She says it is too late to save the baby and that Ona is dying after a difficult birth.

Ona and Jurgis’s newborn child

Also known as the new one · the baby

The unnamed child Ona bears prematurely while Jurgis is away; the baby is stillborn.

the priest

An unnamed priest who prays beside Ona during her childbirth and later tries to comfort Jurgis after she dies.

the saloonkeeper who shelters Jurgis

Also known as the proprietor

An unnamed saloonkeeper who gives Jurgis whisky and food after his release, then lets him spend the night behind a locked cellar door.

the ragamuffin boy

Also known as the little ragamuffin

An unnamed boy who gives Jurgis wrong directions toward the stockyards, apparently as a joke.

the farmer with the straw wagon

Also known as the farmer

An unnamed farmer driving a two-horse wagon who tells Jurgis he is going away from Chicago and should turn back.

the policeman who gives Jurgis directions

Also known as a policeman

An unnamed policeman who directs Jurgis toward the stockyards when he has wandered through the city.

the settlement worker

Also known as the pretty young lady · the young lady

An unnamed young woman who visits Elzbieta after meeting Juozapas at a garbage dump. She brings food and gives Jurgis a letter to a steelworks superintendent, promising he will find him work or she will not marry him.

the two women who tried to become midwives

Also known as the midwives

Unnamed women whom Marija approached for help with Ona’s childbirth; they demanded ten to twenty-five dollars in cash. They are mentioned but do not appear directly.

the man who hires Jurgis at Jones’s

Also known as the Jones’s foreman

An unnamed foreman at Jones’s packing plant who offers Jurgis a trial job pushing a truck, then retracts the offer the next morning after learning more about him.

the Graham’s fertilizer mill boss

Also known as the fertilizer mill boss

An unnamed boss who refuses to rehire Jurgis, saying his former place has been filled and there is no work for him.

the Lithuanian harvester-works worker

Also known as Jurgis’s old-time acquaintance

An unnamed Lithuanian man and former union acquaintance who works at the Harvester Trust. He recommends Jurgis to his boss, helping him get a job.

the Harvester Trust foreman

Also known as the harvester-works foreman

An unnamed foreman at the Harvester Trust who hires Jurgis after questioning him and hearing a recommendation from Jurgis’s former union acquaintance.

the Harvester Trust worker who studies English

Also known as the Lithuanian like himself

An unnamed Lithuanian worker at the Harvester Trust who studies English at night and works as a weekend watchman to support eight children.

the boy at the steel-cutting machine

Also known as the piece-work boy

An unnamed boy at the Harvester Trust who piles steel pieces from a machine at extreme speed, handling about thirty thousand a day.

the grinder who sharpens steel

Also known as the man who sharpened three thousand pieces

An unnamed man at the Harvester Trust who says he has sharpened three thousand steel pieces a day for thirteen years.

the severe old lady in spectacles

Also known as the old lady

An unnamed woman who stops Vilimas while he sells papers and threatens to send a truant officer because she believes he is too young to work.

the strange man who accosted Kotrina

Also known as the strange man

An unnamed man who grabs Kotrina and tries to lure her into a dark cellarway, terrifying her.

the truant officer

An unnamed official whom the severe old lady threatens to summon to stop Vilimas from selling newspapers. Mentioned but does not appear directly.

the woman who offered Jurgis a valise-carrying job

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed woman whose valise Jurgis carries; she pays him a quarter.

the newspaper employment agent

Also known as the smooth-tongued agent

An unnamed agent who advertises or offers fake jobs to the unemployed, including work requiring a deposit or investment.

the boy who operated the stamp machine

Also known as the worker at the steel-stamping machine

An unnamed boy at the Harvester Trust who works at a machine that cuts and stamps steel pieces.

the man who makes casting molds

Also known as Jurgis’s friend

An unnamed worker and friend of Jurgis at the Harvester Trust, employed in the casting rooms making molds and paid for perfect castings.

the settlement worker’s intended husband

Also known as the gentleman

An unnamed man who is superintendent at a mill in the great steelworks and is intended to marry the settlement worker. She says he will get Jurgis work.

Jonas

Elzbieta’s brother and a former Durham’s worker. His accounts of the pickle rooms help the family understand how spoiled meat is processed and sold.

Miss Henderson

The forelady in Ona’s department at Brown’s, formerly the mistress of a department superintendent. Ona says Miss Henderson hated her and arranged the scheme that led to her being coerced by Connor.

the sausage-link woman

An unnamed woman who twists sausage into links at a machine at relentless speed. Her piecework supports a family, and the work leaves her exhausted and pale.

Vilimas

Elzbieta’s eleven-year-old son, a bright boy who leaves school to sell newspapers with his brother Nikalojus before later returning to school.

Nikalojus

Elzbieta’s ten-year-old son, a bright boy who leaves school to sell newspapers with his brother Vilimas before later returning to school.

Jokubas Szedvilas

Also known as ponas Jokubas · Szedvilas · Jonas’s friend

A Lithuanian immigrant who keeps a delicatessen with his wife, Lucija. Jurgis imagines borrowing money from them in a crisis, though their store is itself close to failing.

Dede Antanas

Also known as Grandfather Anthony · Antanas Rudkus

Jurgis’s elderly father, who worked in Durham’s pickle rooms despite a worsening cough and chemical sores on his feet. His fatal cough is recalled as Ona develops a similar one.

the Brown’s killing-floor foreman

Also known as the foreman

An unnamed foreman who tells Jurgis there is no longer a job for him after his ankle injury, having given his place to another worker.

the floorsman killed at Jones’s

An unnamed floorsman at Jones’s who was crushed against a pillar by a wounded steer. His death left his children alone for several days; they were then taken away.

the floorsman’s children

The unnamed children of the floorsman killed at Jones’s, who were left alone for three days before being discovered and taken away.

the first cellmate

An unnamed drunken wife-beater held in the cell next to Jurgis at the police station.

the yelling maniac

An unnamed prisoner held near Jurgis in the police station, who yells through the night.

Justice Callahan

Also known as Pat Callahan · Growler Pat

A politically powerful Packingtown magistrate who is closely trusted by the packers and contemptuous of foreigners. He presides over Jurgis’s case and sentences him to thirty days in jail.

the company lawyer

An unnamed lawyer who appears against Jurgis on behalf of the company and asks that Jurgis be held while Connor recovers.

the court interpreter

An unnamed, dapper young man with waxed mustaches who interprets for Jurgis at Justice Callahan’s court, allowing him to explain that Connor threatened and coerced Ona.

the arresting policeman

An unnamed policeman who arrests Jurgis after the attack on Connor and takes him through the courts and jails.

the police sergeant

An unnamed sergeant at the station desk who records Jurgis’s name and the assault charge.

the policeman who kicks Jurgis

An unnamed burly policeman who curses and kicks Jurgis when he takes the wrong corridor at the station.

the judge’s clerk

An unnamed clerk who explains to Jurgis what the judge means by asking whether someone can go on his bond.

the other cellmate

An unnamed Italian fruit seller who is jailed after refusing to pay a policeman’s graft and being arrested for carrying a large pocketknife. He does not speak English.

the Norwegian sailor

An unnamed sailor who becomes Jurgis’s cellmate at the Bridewell after losing half an ear in a drunken brawl. He is quarrelsome and curses Jurgis over the roaches.

Duane’s father

Jack Duane’s father, who lost his business fortune and killed himself; this left Duane responsible for his mother and younger siblings.

Duane’s mother

Jack Duane’s mother, left with her family after Duane’s father’s financial ruin and suicide. She is mentioned but does not appear directly.

Duane’s younger brother

Jack Duane’s younger brother, whom Duane was left to support after their father’s death. He is mentioned but does not appear directly.

Duane’s younger sister

Jack Duane’s younger sister, whom Duane was left to support after their father’s death. She is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the drunken wife-beater

An unnamed prisoner mentioned as held in a neighboring cell at the police station.

the maniac

An unnamed prisoner mentioned as held in a neighboring cell at the police station.

the homeless wanderers

Unnamed people who enter the station house for shelter from the winter cold and crowd the corridor outside the cells.

the notorious judge

An unnamed, stout magistrate with a florid face and a broken, blotchy nose, whom Jurgis initially suspects may be Justice Callahan.

the county jail bath attendant

An unnamed person who makes Jurgis stay in the bath in the county jail in the hope of removing some of the fertilizer chemicals from him.

the church-tower bell ringer

An unnamed person who rings the church bells at midnight on Christmas Eve, prompting Jurgis to remember Christmases past.

the postal-card writer

Jack Duane, who writes a note to Jurgis’s family telling them where he is and when he will be tried.

the injured Connor witness

Connor, who appears at Jurgis’s trial bandaged and testifies that Jurgis attacked him after Ona was discharged.

the court officer

An unnamed officer who pinches Jurgis’s arm and tells him to address the magistrate as “your Honor.”

the cell visitor

Little Stanislovas, who visits Jurgis in jail and begins to deliver news from home.

the Brown’s wrapping-room forelady

Also known as the forelady · the forewoman

An unnamed woman who employs Ona sewing ham covers at Brown’s. Ona fears losing her place under the forelady’s harsh management; during a snowstorm the forelady’s own absence makes her more lenient.

the canning-room tally woman

An unnamed woman who records how many cans the workers finish. Marija says she repeatedly miscounted her work, leaving her short of pay.

the canning factory forelady

Also known as the forelady

An unnamed woman who dismisses Marija after Marija complains about lost wages and appeals to the superintendent.

the canning factory superintendent

An unnamed man whom Marija approaches after the forelady gives her no satisfaction about missing wages. He rebukes her for pressing the complaint, and Marija soon loses her job.

the department superintendent

An unnamed man who had previously kept Miss Henderson as his mistress and arranged for her to be placed in charge of a department at Brown’s.

the doctor who delivers Antanas

Also known as the man-doctor

An unnamed doctor whom Jurgis hires to attend Ona’s childbirth. He advises that Ona stay home to nurse the baby and recover.

the floor boss

An unnamed boss on the killing beds who rushes in with a rifle and fires when a steer breaks loose.

the big newsman

An unnamed news seller who thrashes Vilimas and Nikalojus for selling papers on his territory.

the man who cheated the boys

An unnamed man who takes Vilimas and Nikalojus’s money, claiming he will get them newspaper stock, and disappears.

Kristoforas

Elzbieta’s youngest child, a sickly boy with a congenital hip dislocation who cannot walk. He dies after eating sausage, likely from contaminated meat.

the Chicago billionaire

An unnamed wealthy man mentioned as having paid to bring a European surgeon to Chicago to treat his daughter’s similar hip condition.

the European surgeon

An unnamed renowned surgeon brought to Chicago by a billionaire to treat the billionaire’s daughter; he also offered treatment to poor children.

the fertilizer grinding-room boss

An unnamed boss who recognizes Jurgis as a likely worker and gives him a job shoveling fertilizer into carts.

the man who started the bank run

An unnamed drunken man in a saloon whose attempted arrest by a policeman draws a crowd and accidentally starts a run on Marija’s bank.

the bank teller

Also known as the man at the window

An unnamed bank employee who pays Marija her money during the bank run and tells her the bank will not accept deposits from those who withdrew funds.

the girl who carried the red flag

An unnamed canning-factory worker who leads a brief protest after a wage cut and later takes a department-store job.

the Irish sausage-room mother

An unnamed woman who works tending a sausage machine and supports a family. She is described as laboring at the machine while her children are dependent on her.

the first real-estate agent

Also known as the agent

A smooth-talking man who sold Jurgis’s family their house through a payment contract presented as a rent arrangement. He confirms that they must pay interest and claims he assumed they understood this.

the special policeman

An unnamed policeman stationed near the time station at Durham’s. After seeing Stanislovas’s false age document, he directs the boy toward the lard-machine job.

the lard-machine boss

An unnamed man who questions Stanislovas about a job, checks his false age document, and assigns him to tend Durham’s new lard-filling machine.

the lard-machine boy

An unnamed boy who works at the lard machine with Stanislovas. One freezing morning he arrives late with his ears frozen, and they break off when a man rubs them.

the German householder

An unnamed German immigrant and former occupant of the family’s house, a steady Durham’s worker who had paid more than half its cost before being killed in an elevator accident. His family is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the Irish householder

Also known as old Lafferty

An unnamed Irish man and former occupant of the family’s house who drank, beat his children, and was briefly jailed for stealing and slaughtering neighbors’ cows. He later lost his standing through drink; his family is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the good Lafferty son

An unnamed son of old Lafferty who supported his father and family for a year or two before becoming ill with consumption. He is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the Bohemian child

An unnamed child from a former Bohemian family in the house, said to have died; the cause of death is uncertain. The child is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the house-purchase lawyer

Also known as the house lawyer

A lawyer known to the real-estate agent who assured Elzbieta and Jokubas that the house contract was regular.

the Irish butcher-helpers’ union delegate

Also known as the butcher-helpers’ union delegate

An Irish representative of the butcher-helpers’ union who first approaches Jurgis about joining and later persuades him to take part in the organization.

the city night watchman

An unnamed night watchman who persuades Jurgis and other recent immigrants to obtain naturalization papers, then guides them through registering and voting for pay.

the naturalization official

An unnamed official in a granite government building who processes naturalization papers for Jurgis and a group of immigrants. He gives them an oath they do not understand and certificates of citizenship.

the stranger who gathered Bubbly Creek waste

An unnamed man who began collecting the filth on Bubbly Creek to make lard, prompting the packers to obtain an injunction and take over the activity.

the physician inspector

An unnamed physician in the local meat-inspection bureau who discovers that condemned tubercular carcasses are being sold in the city. After insisting they be treated with kerosene, he is forced to resign.

the inspector’s scapegoat

An unnamed person hired by Mike Scully to confess to a newspaper-exposed scandal involving Scully’s ice business and then leave the country.

Jurgis’s canning-room informant

An unnamed older Durham’s worker in the canning rooms, introduced to Jurgis by Jonas. He explains how meat scraps and other questionable ingredients are used in Durham canned goods.

the Lithuanian cattle butcher

An unnamed worker at the canning plant where Marija had worked, who kills cattle for canning and describes the diseased and crippled animals processed there.

Tommy Finnegan

Also known as Tom Finnegan · Mr. Finnegan

A little Irish hoister at the union who is preoccupied with a philosophy about spirits and higher intelligences. He corners Jurgis at his first union meeting until another man rescues him.

the union-meeting rescuer

An unnamed man at Jurgis’s first union meeting who notices his distress and frees him from Tommy Finnegan’s conversation.

the alarm-clock customer

An unnamed recent immigrant from abroad who is tricked by a store boss into buying the more expensive of two similar alarm clocks.

the union chairman

An unnamed chairman who pounds his gavel and tries to restore order while Marija speaks at a union meeting.

the state inspector

An unnamed government inspector who visits packing plants once or twice a year and asks children their ages.

the Durham time-station special policeman

Also known as the special policeman

An unnamed policeman at Durham’s time station who directs Stanislovas toward the lard-machine job after seeing his age document.

the hog slaughterer

A burly, bare-armed worker who hooks the hogs to the wheel and slits their throats.

the government inspector

A government employee who checks carcasses for disease. His official presence lends an appearance of approval to Durham’s operations, though some carcasses pass without inspection.

the second lawyer

A lawyer Jurgis consults in a panic about the house papers; he confirms that the family has bought the house and explains the contract’s rental wording.

the Durham special policeman

A special policeman who introduces Jonas to hiring bosses and helps him obtain a job at Durham’s.

the Brown’s hiring boss

Also known as the boss at Brown’s

An unnamed boss who hires Jurgis and leads him to his work at the killing beds.

the canning plant forelady

Also known as the forelady

An unnamed woman who offers Marija a chance to learn can painting. She had dismissed the sick worker Mary Dennis from the job.

the Durham job broker

An unnamed man in Durham’s pickle rooms who offers Antanas a job in exchange for a third of his wages; Tamoszius identifies him as a boss taking a bribe.

Mary Dennis

Also known as Mary

An Irish canning-plant worker whom Marija replaces. She had worked there for more than fifteen years and was dismissed while ill with consumption; she has a disabled, epileptic son.

Mary Dennis’s son

A crippled, epileptic boy who is Mary Dennis’s only child and the person she loves most; he is mentioned but does not appear directly.

Jonas’s predecessor

An unnamed worker who pushed the heavy ham trucks before Jonas and was crushed against a wall by one.

the skilled Majauszkiene son

The elderly Majauszkiene widow’s grown son, a skilled worker who earns well and helped her pay for their house. He belongs to a political organization and is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the Siberian son of Grandmother Majauszkiene

Another son of Grandmother Majauszkiene, who is working in the mines of Siberia; he is mentioned but does not appear directly.

the elder Durham

Also known as old man Durham

The founder of the packing plant and father of the later Durham owner. Grandmother Majauszkiene says he brought immigrant workers to Packingtown to weaken labor and drive wages down.

the younger Durham

Also known as Durham’s owner

The elder Durham’s son and owner of Durham’s, described by Tamoszius as caring only about making as much money as possible. His father’s dishonest business practices are presented as a legacy.

the second violinist

A tall Slovak musician with black-rimmed spectacles who plays in the wedding orchestra.

Valentinavyczia

The very fat cellist in the wedding orchestra, who plays the bass part.

Lucija

Jokubas Szedvilas’s wife and business partner in their delicatessen.

Mikolas

Jadvyga Marcinkus’s fiancé and a skilled beef-boner. Repeated work injuries and illness have delayed their marriage.

Sebastijonas Szedvilas

Also known as Little Sebastijonas

A three-year-old child at the wedding, accidentally struck by a door and comforted by Marija.

the coachman

The driver of Marija’s wedding carriage, who argues with her when she orders him to drive faster.

the fat policeman

A policeman attending the wedding who is expected to break up fights. He is present as a watchful authority during the celebration.

Ona’s father

A once-wealthy man who refused Jurgis’s attempt to marry Ona in exchange for his father’s horses. He died before the family emigrated, leaving an estate tied up with creditors.

Jurgis’s missing brother

Jurgis’s brother, who was drafted into the army more than ten years before the events described; no one has heard from him since.

Jurgis’s sister

Jurgis’s sister, who married and whose husband bought the family property when Antanas left with Jurgis.

the rich farmer of Vilna

The farmer Marija worked for from childhood, who regularly beat her until she finally stood up to him and left.

the interpreter

An unnamed interpreter who helps the newly arrived Lithuanian party in Chicago and directs them to a streetcar for the stockyards.

the Durham guide

An unnamed guide who escorts visitors through a Durham packing plant.