This stage outlines Jurgis's naiveté as an individualist, illustrated by his belief in capitalism in which he can achieve upward mobility if he procures a job and strong work ethic. .
After immigrating from Lithaunia, which Sinclair picks specifically to show Jurgis's previous iteration within a feudal system, the character is grateful for the opportunity that the American dream will afford him: "to be given a place in it and share in its wonderful activities was such a blessing to be grateful for, as one was grateful for the sunshine and the rain". With his best attitude, Jurgis is determined to make the best life for his family, and is competitive against other in Packington: "But Jurgis had no sympathy with such ideas as this "he could do the work himself, and so could the rest of them, he declared, if they were good for anything. If they couldn't do it, let them go somewhere else." In this quote, Sinclair suggests the truth of false consciousness in which proletariats, such as Jurgis, are mislead by the American dream, resulting in tensions as workers are pitted against fellow worker for scarce job opportunities and wages. This assertion relies on a divide and conquer system of capitalism which workers compete against each other and never realize that the real enemies are their bosses who control all of the wealth and power in the system.
Sinclair weaves the plot awry, bombarding Jurgis with one twist of fate after another. He suffers the death of Antanas and resolves to live in the countryside, rejecting work and living in barns and fields. Jurgis's stint in the countryside is a significant as it represents the moment where the protagonist falls outside of the spheres of production and circulation of the capitalist system. However, the summer turns cold and Jurgis's lifestyle is reeled back to industrial Chicago. .
While it is true that natural forces are at play in necessitating Jurgis's return, the transition reveals that wage labor as occupied by Jurgis and other proletariats is not in fact voluntary, but rather dictated by what Sinclair pejoratively states as "wage slavery " in capitalism in chapters 29 and 31.
