This portfolio contains four pieces of work pertaining to the novel  The Jungle.  The four pieces are a movie review about unions ( " Norma Rae" ), a research paper about the worst factory fire in New York   ( Triangle Factory Fire ), a dialogue between two characters from the novel The Jungle, and a letter from a loved one to a character from the novel.  I hope that you enjoy reading my portfolio and I hope that it persuades you to read The Jungle.

    This movie showed the struggle that people went through to get their work place to become unionized.  They were working under poor conditions.  There was heavy machinery, and the machines made such a loud noise that the workers would become temporarily deaf.  It was a cotton factory, so it was very hot.  There were no fans and barely any windows.  When they allowed a union organizer into the factory, he pointed out to the employer that these working conditions were not humane.  If the factory was to caught fire, which was very likely because it was full of cotton, they would be trapped inside because the gate outside to factory was chained close.

    The Triangle Factory Fire was the worst factory fire in the history of New York City.  It took place on 25th of March 1911 in the Asch building at the northwest corner of Washington and Green streets.  The Triangle shirtwaist Company occupied the top three of ten floors.  There were five hundred women employed there, mostly Jewish immigrants between the ages of thirteen and twenty-three.  To prevent the workers from leaving their machines, the owners locked the doors leading to the exits.  The fire began slightly after 4:30pm in the cutting room on the eighth floor.  Because of thousand of pounds of fabric the fire spread quickly.  The workers rushed to the fire exits, the stairs, and the freight elevator.  Most of the workers on the eighth floor escaped, and dozens on the ninth floor died, due to the locked doors.  The rare fire escaped collapsed, killing many and now leaving no escape for others.  Some tried to slide down elevator cables but lost their grip.  Many more workers, with their dresses on fire, jumped to their death from the windows.  The Fire Department showed up immediately but were not able to distinguish the fire due to the dead bodies of the victims who jumped. The ladder of the fire department only reached the sixth floor, and the life net broke when the workers jumped in groups.

    There was 146 women died in less than fifteen minutes.  There was alot of rage over the working conditions that had caused the fire, but many defended the right of shop owners to violate the safety regulation.  The owners of the company were charged with manslaughter and later acquitted but in 1914 were ordered by a judge to pay damages of $75 each to the families of twenty-three victims who had sued.

Ona:  What should we do, do you want to go back to Europe or do we stay here?

Jurgis:  We are going to stay.  We can't turn back now.

Ona:  But look at you.  Look what has happened to everyone.  There is something extremely wrong around here.  Don't you ever wonder how things would have been if we stayed in Europe?

Jurgis:  I can't say that I haven't.  But look at me, it's over.  What is going back going to do for me?

Ona:  What is staying here going to do for you?

Jurgis:  Nothing.  Nothing can be done for me, it is to late.

Ona:  Then if not for you, what about me?  What am I supposed to do?

Jurgis:  Be there for me.  Stand by me.  That is the least you can do.

Ona:  But, what if you get worst?  Where does that leave me?

Jurgis:  Why are you asking these questions?

Ona:  I am just looking ahead.

Jurgis:  What do you want to do?  Because to me it seems as if you want to go back?

Ona:  I think it would be best.

Jurgis:  Then go but I am not going with you.

Ona:  How can you say that?  I am not going without you.

Jurgis:  Then don't.

    Dear Jurgis,

    I was thinking long and hard about it and I don't understand why you don't want to go home.
What is holding you back?  I understand that thinks were not going that well at home but this is just ridiculous.  Everyone is dying slowly from all of this contaminated meat.  Do you want to be next?  I hope not because that is the last thing I want for you.  Think about your wife, what would happen if you were to die?  She needs to be home.  Don't you ever think about how things would have been if you would have just stayed home?  I do.  I am telling you this because I love you and I don't want to see you hurt.  You came here for a better life but things are just getting worst by the minute.  Just think, what's next?  It scares me to think about it.  What if one of us are the next ones to die?  What would our families do without the men of the house.

                                                                                                                        Sincerely,
                                                                                                                        Patikus