Sunday, January 17, 2016

How expensive is Jurgis and Ona's wedding?

In Chapter 1, we are given a long description of Jurgis
and Ona's wedding.  However, we are not given an exact dollar value as to what their
specific wedding cost.


We are told that, at weddings, the
guests are expected to contribute money to help pay for the festivities.  We are told
that the contributions will generally come to somewhere between two hundred and three
hundred dollars.  As Sinclair tells us, this would be more than a year's income for most
of the people who attend the wedding.  Later in the chapter, we are given a partial
breakdown of what has actually been spent at this wedding but it is very incomplete and
does not tell us the full cost of the wedding.


So, we are
left to assume that this is a typical wedding that will cost between $200 and $300, but
we do not know the exact cost.

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