Interpret the final antithesis in this statement: “All life had turned to rottenness and stench in them [the prisoner] - love was a beastliness, joy was a snare, and God was an imprecation.

I think this quote captures the sense of despondence and futility immigrants like Jurgis and his family were subjected to. The Capitalist system in America had nothing to do with freedom and opportunity: America, for immigrants, only meant a slow rotting of body and spirit. This cycle of poverty and slavery was perpetrated by the capitalist owners of the packing plants and the corrupt politicians of local government. These capitalists would purposefully keep wages low and keep the people in poverty. Those without jobs would then be desperate for any work, and because the immigrant populations kept growing, the demand for work kept wages even lower. On the other side, politicians and local businessmen conspired to take the wages away from these immigrants through scams and poor quality products. An immigrant was thus a slave to the economic conditions that he could not control.