Unable to gain lodging for the night with a $100 bill, Jurgis attempts to change it by buying a beer. The bartender, however, only provides change for a $1 bill, and a fight ensues. Jurgis winds up in jail again. In prison, Jurgis once more meets up with Jack Duane. No longer needing to provide for a wife and child, Jurgis is now able to accept Duane's worldview and vows to look him up after he serves his time.
After Jurgis is released from prison, he goes to Duane, who introduces Jurgis to the criminal world of Chicago and the inner workings of the illicit alliances among politicians, businessmen, and criminals. Buck Holloran, an acquaintance of Duane's, explains many of the inner workings of the corruption as he hires Jurgis to collect the wages of sundry city employees. After a series of illegal adventures with Duane, Jurgis meets up with Bush Harper, the man who helped Jurgis become a citizen, and eventually gets involved with politics.
Mike Scully needs to rig an election and get the workers to vote for a Republican candidate. In order to do this, he needs a man who is familiar with the stockyards and is willing and able to organize the campaign. Jurgis is that man and is soon working at Durham's. Working as a hog trimmer, Jurgis joins the union and begins to spread news about Doyle, the Republican candidate for office. Chiefly through his efforts, Doyle is elected, and the laborers mistakenly believe they have used the system to defeat a capitalist.
