Sinclair focused the story on a family from Lithuania, who arrived in Chicago with very little money and no possessions. The family was struggling to survive an oppressive government in Lithuania. The decision to come to America was the hope for a new start and to make a better life for the new couple. The family consists of Jurgis and Ona Rudkus, Ona’s stepmother, Elzbieta, her cousin Marija, her brother Jonas, Jurgis’s father Antanas, as well as Elzbieta’s five children. The story begins with the traditional Lithuanian wedding of Jurgis and his young bride, Ona. In a traditional wedding from Lithuanian guests donate money to the newlywed couple so the couple would have the financial ability to set up a new home and start a new life together. But unlike Lithuania, the wedding in America is one the family can barely afford, the guests do not donate and by the end of the wedding, the family ends up in debt. This event sets the tone for the rest of the story demonstrating the harsh reality for immigrants living in