Sinclair provides an excellent description of life in the slums as Jurgis searches for help and, after finally finding some, is dismissed from the scene. The death of Ona is the first of two central turning points in Jurgis' life (the other being the death of his first son later in the book). He was supposed to have been taking care of her, but was unable to do so.
This entire chapter is a series of losses — Jurgis loses his way, his house, and his wife. And all that he has lost has been the fault of the capitalistic society in which he lives. The same society has to depend on the Madame Haupts of the world.
Madame Haupt, an enormously overweight and dirty woman, is one of the few minor characters who are realistically portrayed. Sinclair spends little time developing other minor characters, and as a result, most of them are stereotypes. She, however, is a multi-dimensional character who embodies life in Packingtown: She is the poor man's doctor, the necessary evil.
