I don’t really think that Marija had enough money to make
her sink into the mud, because just a few coins wouldn’t add enough weight for
that to happen. That comment was probably more metaphorical, talking about the
weight the money would put on your mind for fear of losing it. The author was
probably also making a reference to how greed is bad.
On the
topic of women only getting paid half wages, I’m pretty sure it was like that
in India too, if women were even allowed to work at all. That whole mindset of
women being inferior is silly.
In this
last section, Jurgis is finally pushed over the edge by the death of his wife
and both of his sons. He runs away from those who still remain in his family
and hitchhikes on a train to the open country. This really brought to mind how
grief often makes people overreact quite a bit. For Jurgis, this didn’t turn
out too awfully, because he was able to live the life of his dreams during the
summer after he left. I’m still not sure if this was a good decision, because
he ended up having quite a hard time surviving the winter after he broke his
arm. But if he had stayed on with his family, the conditions probably wouldn’t
have been any better. What do you think of his decision?
Jurgis’
situation after he breaks his arm really makes me grateful that we have decent
social services in the country today, not to mention good labor laws. The country
has really turned into the land of opportunity, where anyone can succeed if
they work hard enough.
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