Journal Entry #4
In another case of bad conditions, I observed the horrid the conditions the streets were in throughout the entire story. Every winter it became extremely difficult to travel to and from work. Proper clothing was important when it rained hard, and Jurgis’ could not afford the proper water resistant clothing. So, when they walked to work every day it rained, they came home cold and sick. Also, when the great snowstorms came every winter, the roads were covered in several feet of snow. Ona, for example, could not get to work when it rained and when there was deep snow. So, she had to pay for a ticket for a car ride to work when it rained, and when the snow got deep enough Jurgis was forced to carry her to work.
It was not only during the rainy and snowy months that the road was in bad shape. They were bad all year round. Rotting wood planks served as sidewalks in some places, and the sidewalks were raised many feet above a dirt road below. Little Antanas, Jurgis’ son, died from falling through the planks, getting stuck in the mud below, and eventually drowning in it.
Stanislovas witnessed a boy lose his ears walking to work in the cold. The boy came in whining that his ears hurt. A man uncovered them and found them frozen stiff. The first thing the man thought to do was to rub them in an attempt to warm them up. “It took only two or three rubs to break them short off.” (Sinclair, 79)
