The main character is Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian man who emigrates to the United States with his fifteen year old fiance Ona Lukoszaite and their extended family. He marries her in Chicago and then soon gets a job at Durham's, a factory in Chicago. The factory mistreats him and Ona and their family. Eventually Ona dies of blood loss because the greedy midwife will not help her because the Rudkus family do not have enough money. Stanislovas, a child in the family who worked in a factory, is killed by an accident while working. Jurgus turns to drinking and Marija Barynczykas, a member of his extended family, becomes a prostitute.