Setting
This is the city where the speaker is taken to live after their father dies.
Chicago
The speaker describes the faces of daytime workers with this adjective that conveys excess and ruin.
debauched
The snow is described as this, emphasizing the grime of the city.
The poem critiques this societal system that creates misery and exploitation.
industrial capitalism
The stockyards symbolize this larger societal problem.
exploitation
The speaker describes the streets near the stockyards as being this two-word phrase.
squalid streets
The faces of children are described as this, highlighting their desperation and suffering.
predatory
The sour smells of fried potatoes and cabbage create this type of sensory imagery.
olfactory imagery
The speaker experiences this emotion that arises from their misery and becomes transformative.
anger
The "filthy snow" symbolizes this aspect of urban life.
corruption
The streetcar takes the speaker to this infamous industrial area.
stockyards
The speaker notices faces in insane wards of charity hospitals as "starved and looted," suggesting this about their minds.
emptiness
The speaker describes twilight as this, symbolizing decay and dirtiness.
soiled
The poem explores the timelessness of this force, which is described as "clean and prosperous" today.
evil
The sour smells of dinner represent this larger emotional state in the neighborhood.
despair
This type of lighting is described as sputtering in the darkening twilight.
purple arc lamps
The faces of some workers coming home still show the "last pulse" of these two qualities.
hope and courage
The poem's mood can best be described with this adjective reflecting hopelessness and decay.
bleak
The poem reflects on this universal human experience that transcends time.
suffering
The soiled twilight and sputtering lights symbolize this transition in the workers’ lives.
the fading of hope
The speaker explores the city during this time of year, which adds to the bleakness.
winter
Many workers' faces are compared to these creatures, showing their utter exhaustion.
tired animals
The sputtering lights and gritty streets create a mood reminiscent of this literary genre often associated with urban despair.
naturalism
The speaker’s final vow represents this kind of moral commitment.
resistance
The vow at the end symbolizes this kind of awakening in the speaker.
call to action