1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Weddings are usually symbols of a joyous new beginning. The Jungle begins with a wedding scene, and what is traditionally filled with hope the family off on their trail of hardships. Sinclair uses the archetype to introduce the contrast between the “American dream” and the reality he sees immigrants face.
The wedding scene is the opening of the novel, and emphasizes the Rudkus' original innocence. The family invites everyone who walks past to join them, despite the cost of the bar and feast they'll have to pay for; they trust people, like back in Lithuania, to give donations. They are more welcoming than they can afford; after eating and drinking, many of the guests sneak out of the building, leaving the poor family with a staggering bill. The behavior is shocking to the Rudkus family. It's a betrayal. The family, still, carries on with innocence and optimism, Jurgis taking responsibility with an "I will work harder.” it's clear that they still believe in the America that had been advertised to them, a place for hope. The wedding sets up a place for the characters to fall from.
The family's traditional values, as well as their hope, fall. In this environment, their generosity harms them. It's traditional to invite people nearby inside, but it's not as practical in Chicago as it was in Lithuania; the sidewalks are much more crowded. Their kindness, unrequited, is out of place. They're faced with people out for themselves, a foreshadowing to their own eventual loss of values: Majija and Teta Elzbieta's prostitution, and Jurgis' abandonment of the family.
The family, battered by harsh surroundings, is later broken. The structure of the novel is an ironic twist, beginning with a wedding and ending apart, again emphasizing the family's fallen hopes.
This was a really good essay. Not all of the prompt was actually there, but from what I can see you answered it very thoroughly. This scene definitely makes the rest of the novel all the more heart-wrenching. However, I feel like while you talk about the "fall" the family experiences, you never exactly say they fall at all. Their kindness is unrequited, Jurgis will work harder. But you never actually discuss Sinclair's main point: that new immigrants, begining their lives in America with hope (like in the wedding scene), are oppressed and suffering, quickly realizing that in this corrupt capitalist world they have no chance for happiness. It's that darned "meaning of the work as a whole again" (stupid pesky thing). You hit the first part about the hope in the beginning beautifully, but I would add a third paragraph about why it's there (or isn't, depending on where you are in the novel). Actually, the second and third paragraphs you have could be combined: they both talk about the family's initial naivete. But you did excellently with the inroductory sentences of your paragraphs: they really spelled out your thesis! Your introductory paragraph was awesome, and your mention of irony perfect.
ReplyDeleteI think the example of the wedding in The Jungle fits this prompt very well. I have read the book, but it never occurred to me to write about the opening scene as a response to this prompt. Good connection! I think here you could have focused a bit more on plain style. Although still clear, some of your sentences could stand a little shortening. For example, sentences such as "The family invites everyone who walks past to join them, despite the cost of the bar and feast they'll have to pay for; they trust people, like back in Lithuania, to give donations" could be reworded in order to make them more concise. Also, adjectives like "staggering" could be removed. I agree with Maya that your pointing to the irony of the scene added a nice touch to the essay.
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