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    The document analyzes similarities between the character Jurgis Rudkus from Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle and the Greek mythological figure Prometheus. Both Jurgis and Prometheus endure great hardships as they are "tied down" to their situations - Jurgis to his struggling family in Chicago and Prometheus chained to a rock where a vulture eats his liver. Additionally, both maintain an optimistic belief that their circumstances will improve, even as they are broken down by outside forces. The document concludes by noting Jurgis decides to stay and help his family after his wife's death, viewing his family as the "boulder" tying him down, just as Prometheus was bound for bringing fire to humanity

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    The document analyzes similarities between the character Jurgis Rudkus from Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle and the Greek mythological figure Prometheus. Both Jurgis and Prometheus endure great hardships as they are "tied down" to their situations - Jurgis to his struggling family in Chicago and Prometheus chained to a rock where a vulture eats his liver. Additionally, both maintain an optimistic belief that their circumstances will improve, even as they are broken down by outside forces. The document concludes by noting Jurgis decides to stay and help his family after his wife's death, viewing his family as the "boulder" tying him down, just as Prometheus was bound for bringing fire to humanity

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    32 views2 pages

    Argumentativeessay Thejungle

    Uploaded by

    api-344647840
    The document analyzes similarities between the character Jurgis Rudkus from Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle and the Greek mythological figure Prometheus. Both Jurgis and Prometheus endure great hardships as they are "tied down" to their situations - Jurgis to his struggling family in Chicago and Prometheus chained to a rock where a vulture eats his liver. Additionally, both maintain an optimistic belief that their circumstances will improve, even as they are broken down by outside forces. The document concludes by noting Jurgis decides to stay and help his family after his wife's death, viewing his family as the "boulder" tying him down, just as Prometheus was bound for bringing fire to humanity

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    Araceli Rivera

    Mrs. Spurlock
    AP Lang. & Comp.
    13 January 2017

    The Jungle & Prometheus Bound


    Upton Sinclairs The Jungle reveals the cruel horrors of the meatpacking industry by
    describing the lives of Lithuanian immigrants living in Chicago. These immigrants are not
    actually living, but are being torn down and dying left and right. One man, Jurgis Rudkus,
    believed everything would be better once they have lived long enough. His beliefs were almost
    the same as the Greek mythological character Prometheus.
    Sinclair creates an allusion to Prometheus in chapter eighteen of the novel stating Jurgis

    as the victim of ravenous vultures that had torn into his vitals and devoured him. In the myth
    Prometheus Bound, Prometheus is chained, or bound, to a boulder where, daily, a vulture or
    eagle comes and eats his liver, causing Prometheus to constantly endure pain. This is similar to
    Jurgis and his situation because he, like Prometheus, is tied down to his family and is almost
    always encountering hardships and pain due to losing jobs and members of the family leaving or
    dying.
    Prometheus and Jurgis are not only similar when it comes to the hardships they face, but
    also how they believe something will allow them to live adequately once again. Throughout the
    myth, Prometheus continuously states that he is not in need of help as he knows he will be freed
    someday by a son of Zeus. Jurgis, on the other hand, does not know what will come of his future,
    as he does not have the privilege to hear a prophecy, yet believes that if he continues to work

    hard, he will achieve anything. Even after being tortured and broken down, both Prometheus and
    Jurgis believe they will have a future of greatness, no matter the hardships they face.
    Even though Jurgis has abandoned his family before, he decides to stay and help after the
    death of his wife Ona. His family is the boulder he is tied to, while the businesses and people are
    his vultures tearing his life away from him. The thought of his son suffering pains him more than
    anything else. There is no reason for baby Antanas to suffer, similarly to the how the humans
    suffered before Prometheus gave them fire and was punished for his deed.

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