Sinclair employs scent imagery to evoke pathos and highlight Jurgis's pitiful state after he has fled the scene of his wife's dangerous childbirth. As he sits in a saloon relishing its warmth, the narrator tells the reader that:
It was too good to last, however—like all things in this hard world. His soaked clothing began to steam, and the horrible stench of fertilizer to fill the room. In an hour or so the packing houses would be closing and the men coming in from their work; and they would not come into a place that smelt of Jurgis.
Jurgis is sitting in a bar waiting to hear the news of Ona's dangerous labor from Madame Haupt, a midwife he cannot afford. He knows he doesn’t have long until he’s kicked out into the cold, since he has no money to keep buying drinks. This anxiety is made worse by the fact that he knows he stinks. His entire body is soaked in particles of fertilizer from the factory, and they give off a horrifying odor. Even among the laborers of Packingtown, who all endure horrible conditions, working as a fertilizer man is considered an unbearable job.
By emphasizing the stench of fertilizer and its widespread effect on the room, Sinclair creates a vivid image of Jurgis's deplorable physical condition. The narrator suggests that the stench repels even his fellow workers, who might refuse to enter a place “that smelt of Jurgis.” Notice here that the narrator says “Jurgis” and not “fertilizer,” implying that it is the man himself who produces the stench, not the manure he’s coated in. The foul odor is just one aspect of his degradation and isolation. Jurgis has hit rock bottom and has nowhere to go. This portrayal—of a stinking, lonely, desperate man—elicits sympathy from the reader, invoking their sense of pathos. Rather than feeling disgusted by Jurgis, Sinclair asks the reader to consider the pitiful circumstances he faces in a world of hardship and indifference.
