Question

Read the following and explain what does the auther want to express ?

…that here in this huge city, with its stores of heaped-up wealth, human creatures might be hunted down and destroyed ... The latter part of April Jurgis went to see the doctor, and was given a bandage to lace about his ankle, and told that might go back to work ... [But there was no work for him.] The peculiar bitterness of all this was that Jurgis saw so plainly the meaning of it. In the beginning he had been fresh and strong, and he had gotten a job the first day; but now he was second-hand, a damaged article, so to speak, and they did not want him. They had got the best out of him--they had worn him out, with their speeding up and their carelessness, and now they had thrown him away! ....

Answer 1

Answer: When the author mentions the "huge city" with "stores of heaped-up wealth", he means that in urban agglomerations where the rush of city life is so heavy and the persuit of weath seems to be the order of the day, the perception of time is almost lost in chaos. The clear image of this is Jurgis visiting the doctor and realising he had become an old man almost without realising it. Now he has no work and the normal aches and pains that come with age. At this point, he feels he was "used" by others when they had the chance to take advantage of him but now that he can't put up with the crazy speed of life, he's just discarded, thrown away; and that gives him a bitter taste in his mouth.