Strong and confident, Jurgis begins a job in a meatpacking plant, where he bears the twelve-hour workdays, the repellent and dangerous labor conditions, and the pitifully low pay. But when his family is cheated in a housing swindle, his father is forced to turn over one-third of his pay to the man who hired him. A sprained ankle costs Jurgis his job, the American Dream that inspired him veers into nightmare, and worse is yet to come.