Upton Sinclair's The Jungle Analysis

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written to expose the brutality faced by the workers in the meatpacking industry. Sinclair wanted to show people what was really going on in the factory because few people were informed about these companies work conditions. He wanted to show the public that meat was “ diseased, rotten, and contaminated” (Willie).” This revelation shocked the, public which later led to the creation of the federal laws on food and safety. Sinclair strongly shows the failure of capitalism in the meatpacking industry which he viewed as inhumane, destructive, unjust, brutal, and violent (Willie).”

During the turn of the 19th century, the second industrial revolution was taking place in America, which shifted society from agricultural to industrial. Innovations and new technology were the driving vehicle for burgeoning businesses in the city. With this shift, populations swelled in large cities such as New York, Chicago, and Pittsburg by job seeking immigrants from countries including Ireland, Germany, and Lithuania who were attracted to the United States wanting to be a part of a so called “American dream” and economic opportunity. These immigrants longed for a chance to start over again and wanted nothing more than an opportunity to make a better life for themselves, and the generations

There were no regulations that required safer conditions. He could not afford to replace his shoes at the rate the chemicals at his job ate through them. The businesses took no responsibility for injuries acquired in the workplace, and if he took time off to heal he would not have a job to come back to. Jurgis was injured at work, and then lost his job because he could not come to work; then, because he was injured it was harder for him to find a job. The stockyards were responsible for the disfiguration of many workers, but they were also the cause of many deaths for which they took no responsibility:

Upton Sinclair was a famous novelist and social crusader from California, who pioneered the kind of journalism known as "muckraking." His best-known novel was "The Jungle" which was an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry. "The Jungle" was influential in obtaining passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

The Jungle was a social criticism novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1905 to 1906. The novel was very touching, it showed the hardship of living in America and false hope that it gave to the incoming immigrants. It was an eye opener to not only what immigrants endure trying to better life for their families, but it showed that everything came go from bad to worse quickly.

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair uncovers the horrors of working in the meatpacking district of Chicago. Sinclair acquired the inspiration to write The Jungle when he was sent into the stockyards to unveil the truth about the workingmen’s lives in Chicago. Sinclair’s story caused an uproar and led to him being labeled as a muckraker, a term that referred to journalists that documented the harsh conditions of workers during industrialization. He intended his novel to bring light to the socialist party, but instead the readers were more concerned about the diseased and mistreated meat that the were eating. Because of the upset, Sinclair’s novel led to the formation of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Sinclair published five novels between 1904 and 1906, but none were as influential or as popular as The Jungle. A silent movie was made as a film adaptation of this story in 1914. I have not read any of the other novels published by Upton Sinclair.

The common way books are written is that authors have an idea and then they use different elements to make the book what it is. Upton Sinclair is a world famous, award-winning author and a politician. He, like other authors used elements when he wrote his most famous book, The Jungle. The Jungle inspired change in the meat packing industry because people saw the awful condition the meat that they bought was in awful condition. The world in this time was very different form today’s age. Many labor laws have changed through the last one hundred years, and the food sanitary has also changed. In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair uses the elements of historical context, biographical info, and literary elements in making the book what it is.

The working environment in slaughterhouses and meat packing factories were atrocious. According to Sinclair in The Jungle, the workers in these factories were to pickle or smoke spoiled meat and cut off the contaminated parts. The meat that had been dropped was picked up and put back in the grinder as if nothing happened at all. If a whole ham is spoiled to the point it smelled the workers were to chop it up with other meats and pour chemicals to smother the pungent odor oozing off the meat. Rats overrun storage rooms where the meat is kept in piles under insufficient, leaky ceilings. The factories have workers mop up the brine, that is used to preserve the meat, towards a hole in the floor so it can be recycled and used again. After a few days, workers were to shovel the unused rotten scraps into the truck that hauled off the meat.

The 20th century consisted of social and political reformers who wanted to address the rapid change in economy and culture due to Industrialization. Upton Sinclair was one of the most vigorous socialist activist. His literature was a strong influence in the Progressive Era. Sinclair is widely know for both his writings and political career. Although he published over 90 books, his success is due to The Jungle (1906), a true muckraking exposé.

Several years before and after the turn the turn of the twentieth century, America experienced a large influx of European immigration. These new citizens had come in search of the American dream of success, bolstered by promise of good fortune. Instead they found themselves beaten into failure by American industry. Upton Sinclair wanted to expose the cruelty and heartlessness endured by these ordinary workers. He chose to represent the industrial world through the meatpacking industry, where the rewards of progress were enjoyed only by the privileged, who exploited the powerless masses of workers. The Jungle is a novel and a work of investigative journalism; its primary purpose was to inform the general public about the dehumanization

Upton Sinclair’s social commentary novel of the 1900s’ turbulent age, “The Jungle”, critically acclaims Marxism with the idea of fundamental flaws and the idea of destined break down of the capitalism through an Lithuanian hard working immigrant seeking for the ‘American dream’. The muckraking of abhorrent Capitalism,the idea of Marxism, was evidently illustrated through the family exploited to lies and chicanery, unfair treatment causing struggles between upper and lower class and the lead to the destruction and the deaths of untold millions.

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is an unashamed example of the journalistic style known as muckraking. Sinclair researched the conditions being fought against during the Progressive Era and painted a picture in literary form for the ignorant readers. The consumerism that taped into the greed of industrialists is drawn out many times. This greed, in turn, drove down the American Standard of living in almost every aspect. With every corner of hope demolished, a path was laid out for all to follow, the Progressive solution to the world: Socialism.

In the early 1900's life for America's new Chicago immigrant workers in the meat packing industry was explored by Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle. Originally published in 1904 as a serial piece in the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason, Sinclair's novel was initially found too graphic and shocking by publishing firms and therefore was not published in its complete form until 1906. In this paper, I will focus on the challenges faced by a newly immigrated worker and on what I feel Sinclair's purpose was for this novel.

The Jungle is a novel that focuses on a family of immigrants who came to America looking for a better life. The novel was written by Upton Sinclair, who went into the Chicago stockyards to investigate what life was like for the people who worked there. The book was originally written with the intent of showing Socialism as a better option than Capitalism for the society. However, the details of the story ended up launching a government investigation of the meat packing plants, and ultimately regulation of food products. It gave an informative view of what life was like in America at the time. Important topics like immigration, working conditions and sanitation issues of the time were all addressed well in the novel.

Sinclair is very cynical about the American dream in this novel. The novel revolves around a main character that is very strong, good moral, and is willing to work as hard as necessary to make sure his family survives. Sinclair repeatedly uses the phrase “I will work harder” in the face of adversity. However, in this book the amount of work you would be willing has nothing to do with the success in Packingtown. After his newborn son dies in the mud, Jurgis abandons his family and starts running scams for Mike Scully. You would think if anyone could complete his goal of accomplishing the American dream it would be Jurgis; however in the end that was not the case. Jurgis preys on those just as he was preyed on, with no remorse. It is safe to