Two Different Tragic Constructions

I think The Jungle deals with numerous characters and also various heartbreaking plots. When I read first page, the novel started to describe the dream of immigrants and their hope for comfortable life. However, as the story goes by, all characters are falling down and down, and I felt deep sorrow because the result was too different from their belief for the future.

First, when the family moves to the U.S., I thought it was a kind of huge project. The asset they had was limited and their life was at stake. Though Jurgis, the protagonist of The Jungle, can not 100% assure that they are going to make a success, he thinks he can get a job and run his family with Ona. Then their hopefulness starts to disappear and change to despair and pain. The house rent makes them cry. The town makes them cry. And the cold weather and the change of people’s relationship makes them cry. Especially when I found out Ona is selling her body for the health of her family, I felt extreme sorrow. The whole family is getting corrupted by the environment of capitalism which is opposed to what they firmly believed. To the gap between two conditions, I felt inability to control my sense and to accept the result of the characters.

On the other hand, Our Nig starts its story with already sad circumstance. Frado is thrown away to the white house and starts to work as an indentured servant. Once the author introduces how Frado is abused, and what kind of pain she felt (because it is based on her own life) with inserting numbers of painful scenes. Though the end of the story raised my emotion with understanding to her (moreover, people like her), and also Hattie adorned the story not just with tragic factors but also the social issues at that time and the racism in order to progress the story to achieve her goal of the novel. Besides, not like The Jungle, the difference between two conditions existed in the nature of the characters. Mrs. B makes Frado’s life miserable and deteriorates her health. And Jack and Susan gives hope to Frado and this is the main force and hope for Frado to extend her life. Unfortunately, they don’t fully help her. Probably the reason is based on the limited freedom to Frado and the circumstance of the family.

One interesting thing is that two novels seem to evoke the readers’ emotion, sorrow, pity and fear for the different purpose, but their ways to construct the heartbreaking plot seem also different. The different goals of the novel, making understanding of the readers and creating effect to the society, might be the reason for different construction of tragic literature.