Summary

The family buys furniture on credit and moves into their new home. The house is small, and the rooms are overcrowded with the large family, but they have a roof over their heads and will soon have money in the bank. At the same time, Jurgis has settled into his job and finds that he enjoys it even as his coworkers complain. Jurgis is approached by the union, but he laughs them off because he does not think that the things the union wants to change are necessary. A friend of Jurgis’s, Tamoszius, tells him some of the truths of the packing houses, but Jurgis refuses to believe him.

Jurgis’s only concern at this point is his father Antanas. Antanas desperately wants a job, but he is too old to find employment in the packing houses. For months, Antanas goes in...