Jurgis' family endures numerous challenges primarily due to their lack of resources and the actions of those with abundance who work to deny them the fruits of their labor. The owners of the packinghouses profit from the workers' toil while also fostering division among them, as this mutual distrust prevents unionization. Under pressure from their superiors, plant managers push the lower-level workers to increase their productivity. European workers look down on black laborers from the South, perceiving them as lazy and disorderly. Following the devastating loss of his wife and child and a brief escape from societal hierarchy in the countryside, Jurgis decides to succeed in life, even if it means exploiting others. Although the mugging that launches his criminal career weighs on his conscience, his partner helps him rationalize it by suggesting the victim probably deserved it. Jurgis reflects that the man had never wronged them directly, to which his friend replies, "He was doing it to someone as hard as he could, you can be sure of that." Jurgis' involvement in the criminal underworld draws him into gambling and corrupt politics, engaging in increasingly abstract crimes that exploit those at society's lowest rungs—the very place Jurgis once occupied—while blinding him to the harm he causes. The ultimate irony unfolds when he becomes a strikebreaker, perpetuating the same harsh conditions that once shattered his family. The abuse of social power is vividly depicted when Jurgis and two policemen, in an effort to quell striking workers, raid a tavern and the officers empty the cash register simply because they have the power to do so, devoid of any moral justification. The narrative then transitions to promote the philosophy of socialism, calling for a classless society where individuals are rewarded based on their hard work and contributions, rather than through exploitation or clinging to social class privileges.