Analyzing Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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).”

Sometimes, your own actions can cause your own pain. One good example of this is The Jungle. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, was written in 1906 and is about an immigrant family, the most important Jurgis and Ona who come to America, hoping to find freedom, liberty, and most importantly, a job, as well as Jurgis looking to marry Ona. However, they soon find out that that they are being deceived at every turn, and their lives are worse than before. It is clear that Jurgis is one of the main protagonists, and while Jurgis and his family are exploited by the ‘bosses’, Jurgis is usually the cause of his own pain, and is his own antagonist. This is unique among books, because the author doesn’t usually want the reader to feel too much pity for the protagonist, but that is exactly what happens in The Jungle. The most significant ways this happens to Jurgis is by him not listening to other workers at Packingtown, when he attacked Ona’s boss, and when he joined the criminal world.

For centuries immigrants have left their homes and have journeyed to the United States in pursuit to live out the “American Dream”, an idea that the U.S. will provide people with a better life. However, this “better life” was not just given upon arrival, immigrants were not told the horrid experiences, and backbreaking hour, they would face in search for a better life. There is no better representation of this than Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, this book is a very accurate representation of the life of the vast majority of people within the United States. During the time when this book was written there were few jobs, and the jobs that were obtainable were mostly factory jobs with horrible conditions that entailed excruciating hours. Aside from the dangerous conditions, the pay was next to nothing making it near impossible to afford food and shelter, let alone providing for a family. Immigrants quickly found out that the “American Dream” was not the glorified vision that they thought, rather more like the song “Welcome to the Jungle” by “Guns N Roses”. After examining the lyrics, you can tell the similarities Axl Rose and the rest of Guns N Roses were facing as they tried to make it in the music industry. “In the jungle, welcome to jungle, watch it bring you to your knees, I wanna watch you bleed,” once you get to the U.S. you’ll get ripped down to almost nothing and suffer from the horrible conditions that you are faced with. The Jungle takes all of the issues immigrants

Most famous people inspire authors to write books written about their achievements, however Upton Sinclair Junior did it backwards. Some of his ninety novels including an autobiography, and in particular The Jungle, changed America forever by using fictitious stories to depict the present issues at that time. Upton Sinclair was an author and activist in the early to mid 1900’s who was passionate about issues involving women 's rights, working conditions, and the unemployed. He wrote over ninety books in his lifetime, as well as countless articles and other works of journalism. As Sinclair grew up, he was exposed to both a lifestyle of poverty and wealth that shaped his world as well as his political views as a socialist, or someone who advocates the vesting of the control of the means of production and distribution, of capital or land in the community as a whole. Upton Sinclair was a controversial author who took a stand in history by vastly impacting the food industry, becoming politically active, and forecasting solutions to social problems.

A wealthy nation is not a prosperous nation, as a nation can be prosperous without being wealthy. Wealth can be defined as capital or vice versa as having properties or resources and turning it into money. A country that is wealthy can have both rich and poor people living in it. There is an upper class, middle class and lower class, which individuals are associated to. We all know that individuals in the upper class have more resources, materials, properties and more money than the middle and lower class. The position that Upton Sinclair takes is that a wealthy nation isn’t a prosperous nation as many immigrants worked in horrible conditions and lived in miserable areas in her book “The Jungle”. I claim that a wealthy nation isn’t a prosperous nation because people have to look at the quality of human life and factors such as education, health care, inequality, basic needs, social goods and literacy are key aspects in determining if a wealthy nation is a prosperous nation. The first body paragraph of my essay will be focusing on Gross Domestic Product and how it is not the best way to determine if a country is wealthy or not. Also it will be addressing the issues of Qatar which is the richest nation and has the highest per capita. The second body paragraph will illustrate the drive for capital by Heilbroner and how it can produce wealth or misery. Upton Sinclair book “The Jungle” is a good example as it shows how Jurgis left Lithuania to go to America to become a wealthy

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

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.

Thesis Statement: Upton Sinclair was a muckraker who wrote, “The Jungle”, which exposed the problems of the meatpacking industry.

Based on chapter 13 of How To Read Literature Like A Professor I believe The Jungle is a political work centered on the contrasts between capitalism and socialism. Upton Sinclaire uses Jurgis to represent immigrants and the working class, making the character more relatable helps to get the authors point across to the audience. Wether it be politically or otherwise, the story is meant to change us and in turn change society. In the case of The Jungle , Sinclaire uses symbolism and propaganda like antics to express his ideas both through Jurgis and the story itself. This novel being programmatic (pushing a single cause, concern or party position) supports socialist ideas and causes. For example, in The Jungle, Jurgis is constantly oppressed

Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus and his family are drawn to America from the promise of freedom and opportunity. However, they soon realize that their residence of Packingtown is filled with immigrants like them who are being swindled of their soul. Everyday, Jurgis toils away on the killing floor of a meatpacking factory from morning to night and earn mere pennies. Around him, his family members waste away in similar jobs as they struggle to pay rent and feed themselves.Meanwhile, Jurgis comes to know of unions and socialism, which gives him a will to fight for a better life. Through Jurgis’s story of survival in Packingtown, Sinclair exposes the horrible way of life factory workers live to support their families. The Jungle gained public

Muckrakers were journalists, novelists, professors, and public intellectuals who voiced their Progressive ideas, brought exposure to the living conditions of American workers and political corruption present throughout the era. Their name of muckraker was given by President Roosevelt in a speech depicting them as people who were interested in only raking the filth with a muckrake in their hands. He supported their exposure of issues but no in the way in which they did them which he often saw as irresponsible. It was very much due to the muckrakers’ success that the general public became supportive of progressive issues.

Written by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle explores the sheer, harsh conditions of the living and working environment in the Chicago stockyards. The title is significant because it represents the realities of the labor force and depicts a wild, brutal environment that benefited the wealthy, while leaving the inferior working class fighting to survive. In Particular, the The Jungle denotes the life of Jurgis and his family in Packingtown and their hardships they face in the Chicago stockyards. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle has a significant title because through corruption and capitalism, the weak and poor suffer, while the strong and wealthy flourish.

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.

The Jungle is a title that is open to interpretation, but only to a certain point. When I think of a jungle I think of a tropical area with many different plants and animals. In this story, though, it is nearly opposite. The city is a grey mess, and nothing really bringing life to it, other than the workers. Although, in the grand scheme of things, I do agree that Upton Sinclair chose the correct name for this novel.