In which Jurgis, newly awakened to the stirring hopes of democracy and citizenship through his union and naturalization, begins to unravel the tangled web of political graft and industrial corruption that governs the city and its laboring classes. Amidst the sordid realities of the packinghouse district, he learns of the appalling conditions endured by workers and the shocking deceptions employed in the preparation of foodstuffs, illuminating the grim underside of the American dream.