1. Who are the main characters in these chapters? Select the most important one and describe him/her.
The main characters in these chapters Jurgis, Jonas, Marija, Teta Elzbieta, Ona, Stanislovas, Dede Antanas, and Tamoszius Kuszleika.  The most important character in these chapters would have to be Jurgis.  Jurgis is a man who although may not like what he is doing he has to do it because that is what the American Dream is all about.  He feels that in order to fulfill all of his dreams of being an American he must adapt and and be totally devoted to his job.  No matter what it takes, he must do anything to support his family even if it is not okay with him.
 

2. Discuss two major conflicts you noticed in these chapters( what are they? How do they develop? Any solution?)
Two of the major conflicts in the story are the family getting ripped off into buying the house and the way that they family is all forced to get a job.  The way that one problem leads right to the other, is that when the family was tricked into buying the house since it was a rental they all had to get a job to finish paying the whole amount.  Now the whole family except for two of the women must stay at the house to take care of the children.  Most of the members in the family have been forced to get jobs that they know are not what they want but have to take them in order to pay for the house.  The house has been the biggest conflict in this chapter because if they would have known that this was all a scam they might  not have been forced into working.
 

3. What is the major theme in this section(American dream of success, freedom in America, evil  of capitalism, power of the union, corruption, miserable working conditions, etc...)?
The major theme in this section would have to be evil of capitalism.  This theme ties together the whole buying of the house.   The way that the family saw that there were not that many families living in these houses let the idea of there being something worng with the whole picture not bother them because they felt that they needed something that they could call their own and not want anything to ruin it.
 

4. What details illustrate such a theme?
The details that illustrate such a theme are the way that the real estate agent had lied and told the family that everyone was buying these houses.  At that time the real estate agent knew that he had the family in the palm of his hands and they would buy without putting any thought into thinking about buying the house.  Another detail that illustrates the theme was the deed that they had signed which they must have not read because it stated that the house was a rental.  This showed that they agent just wanted to rip these people off and whenever they had stopped paying or forgot to pay he could easily throw them into the street.  Themes such as this portray the government as always being the bad guys and trying to rip people out of their money.

5. How does the subject, work ethic, tie into the section?
The subject of work ethic ties into the section because when Jurgis is at work and he notices that the other men who are working there hate their jobs he comes to wonder why.  At times he thinks that they are all lazy and just dont want to work.  He feels that they union would not provide anything for him and then decides not to join it.  Although he notices that there are many hazards in the factory when he first gets there, he pays it no mind and feels that nothing is really going to happen.  He knows now that he the worst part of this whole ordeal is that he must hand over his freedom to his boss while he is working.  He must answer to his boss and do as he says because he is working for them.  He is now noticing that no matter where you work at you must still feel like a slave and this all changes his mind about the way that he views the American Dream.

6. Do the characters change at the end of the section? How?
A character that changes at the end of the section would be Antanas who is Jurgis father.  This man is an old man who is retired and vowed no longer to work anymore.  When the winter arrived Antanas was forced to work because the winter was making everybody hungry and making them poor.