When the group of Lithuanian immigrants—including Jurgis and his family—initially arrive at Packingtown, they observe a strange and new series of weather patterns and architectural shapes. The narrator employs foreshadowing, hyperbolic language, and the sensory language of sight to create a vivid and ominous atmosphere in this scene. The group sees:
[...] half a dozen chimneys, tall as the tallest of buildings, touching the very sky—and leaping from them half a dozen columns of smoke, thick, oily, and black as night. It might have come from the center of the world, this smoke, where the fires of the ages still smolder [...] driving all before it, a perpetual explosion. It was inexhaustible; one stared, waiting to see it stop, but still the great streams rolled out. They spread in vast clouds overhead, writhing, curling; then, uniting in one giant river, they streamed away down the sky, stretching a black pall as far as the eye could reach.
The author uses visual imagery to paint a bleak picture of the family’s new home. Before they even get out of the train, they note that the landscape is getting "hideous and bare." Thick columns of dark, oily smoke rise from the stockyards and towers, casting an eerie pall over the surroundings. This visual imagery evokes a sense of darkness and destruction, setting the stage for the difficulties that lie ahead. Descriptions such as "tall as the tallest of buildings" and "stretching a black pall as far as the eye could reach" create an impression of immense proportions.
The chimneys of the stockyards and the processing plant are hyperbolically described as towering structures that seem to touch the “very sky.” These exaggerated statements underscore the overwhelming nature of the industrial landscape and the daunting obstacles faced by Jurgis and his family. Of course, these buildings aren’t really touching the sky, and the smoke isn’t “inexhaustible,” but they seem that way to Jurgis and his companions. Having never seen anything like Chicago's bulk and sprawl before, they are overwhelmed by its scale.
Foreshadowing is present here too, subtly hinting at the troubles that await Jurgis and his family. The foreboding nature of this first view of the factoryscape suggests that it will bring hardship and adversity. The reader is left with a sense of unease, suspecting that the stockyards will present significant challenges for the characters. The reader is transported into the grim reality of the meat factory and its "jungle" of indentured workers. Packingtown is a place where dark smoke fills the air, and the challenges faced by its immigrant communities loom large.
Jurgis's panic intensifies with his family's descent into poverty due to his workplace accident and the brutal winter. The narrator employs hyperbolic language and a simile that compares fear to a grasping hand to convey the overwhelming fear and despair that consume him:
The thought of this was like an icy hand at his heart; the thought that here, in this ghastly home of all horror, he and all those who were dear to him might lie and perish of starvation and cold, and there would be no ear to hear their cry, no hand to help them!
The simile in this passage compares Jurgis's fear to an "icy hand" gripping his heart. The comparison gives a chilling and paralyzing effect, as if his heart’s muscles are literally being held still. It intensifies the emotional impact of his panic and emphasizes the magnitude of his terror.
This language is hyperbolic, as his heart isn’t really being stopped. However, the intensity of the language here further amplifies Jurgis's desperation. Through it, Sinclair suggests that his family’s potential fate of freezing and starving is the epitome of horror and hopelessness.
The vivid simile and exaggerated description communicate the all-consuming nature of Jurgis's anxiety. They also highlight the immense weight of his family's dire circumstances. Although it seems melodramatic to predict that there will be “no ear to hear their cry, no hand to help them,” this isn’t actually very far from their eventual reality. This passage underscores the precariousness of their plight and the sense of powerlessness that engulfs Sinclair’s protagonist.
