Commentary on Capitalism in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle

Upton Sinclair carefully weaves vivid accounts of political and legal corruption into his portrayal of the city of Chicago at the turn of the 20th Century. As Jurgis’s story unfolds, he becomes both the victim and perpetrator of nefarious actions, which undermine the overarching legal and political system. As will be demonstrated, Sinclair’s portrayal of corruption aims to convince his readers of the evident failings of unbridled laissez-faire capitalism and, by contrast, the viability of socialism as a potential alternative.

This is seen in the meatpacking industry where the conditions were horrific. Sinclair exposes the truth of Capitalism in America as hypocritical and deceitful. Furthermore, these changes in American society influenced the work of Upton Sinclair and particularly in “The Jungle”. Sinclair examines several societal changes during the turn of the century where his literature reflects the changes of a newly emerging

Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle. Is a story about a family from Lithuania that move to Chicago, Illinois in 1905. There are many themes shown in the story. Such as Irony which is shown in many ways than one for example one of the characters in this story finally gets some money and she carries it everywhere and it weighs her down and one day she gets stuck in mud because it was so heavy. Poverty, greed, and death also happens in this novel as well. Poverty is shown in the book in how poor they are they get paid very little. Greed is all around the characters as in the people around them are greedy and they make ways to where no one else has any. Death happens the the family in many ways a few of the family members die in the novel.

Written at the turn of the 20th century, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle took place in an era of unprecedented advancement in civilization where the American economy had risen to become one of the wealthiest on the planet. However, Sinclair asserts that the rise of capitalist America resulted in the virulent corruption and competition that plighted society into an untamed “jungle.” Shown by the corruption of the Chicago meatpacking industry, Sinclair highlights the repulsive filth of human greed that was created as a byproduct of the economic boom. The effects of industrialism and the rise of untamed capitalism is what raped the superfluity of workers, like Jurgis Rudkus, of the opportunity to uncover prosperity in America. Not only does The Jungle capture the brutality and acceleration of corrupt capitalism and ruthless Darwinism during the Progressive Era, it also prompts resistance and displacement of the existing political system in favor of a socialist revolution. Through the novel, Sinclair demonstrates how the deterioration of the American Dream was exacerbated by the capitalist greed and corruption that eventually drove Jurgis and his family into mental degeneration and despair.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a vivid account of life for the working class in the early 1900s. Jurgis Rudkus and his family travel to the United States in search of the American dream and an escape from the rigid social structure of Lithuania. Instead, they find a myriad of new difficulties. Sinclair attributes their problems to the downfalls of capitalism in the United States. While America’s system was idealistic for Jurgis and his family at first, the mood of the story quickly transforms to assert that capitalism is evil. This theme drives the author’s message and relay of major issues throughout the entirety of the novel. The idea of capitalism and social Darwinism is to

The Jungle is book that takes the reader in a period in time where the “American Dream” was the only thing worth believing in the daily job struggles of immigrants in America during the early twentieth century. What is the American Dream? It is said that any man or woman willing to work hard in this country and work an honest day is capable living and could support his family and have an equal opportunity to success. Although The Jungle was taken account more on how the meat production was disgusting and unhealthy for production and consumption. However many missed the real message of this book in which Sinclair wants to engage the reader in particular scenario of the failure of capitalism. According to Sinclair, socialism is the only way out of the failure of capitalism. It is the way that all problems can be solved and works for the benefit of everyone where capitalism works against the people. The slow destruction of Jurgis’s family at the hands of a cruel and unfair economic and social system demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class. As the immigrants, who believe an idealistic faith in the American Dream of hard work leading to material success, are slowly used up, tortured, and destroyed.

Christopher Phelps’ Introduction states, “As a metaphor, ‘jungle’ denoted the ferocity of dog-eat-dog competition, the barbarity of exploitative work, the wilderness of urban life, the savagery of poverty, the crudity of political corruption, and the primitiveness of the doctrine of survival of the fittest, which led people to the slaughter as surely as cattle.”(1), this is the foundation to Sinclair’s arguments that capitalism promotes competition between the working-class for mere survival all the while destroying human rights

Upton SInclair’s novel, The Jungle, is a novel based on the “Gilded Age” in american history. It is the life of a working man named Jurgis Rudkus and as the story progresses, it shows the corruption and dishonesty of the people during this time period, as well as their reasoning behind their actions. Also as the novel continued, it showed the author's inspiration for the title of this novel. Throughout the book, Upton Sinclair had scattered metaphors as to why Capitalism is corrupt and why Socialism is better. With subtle hints to social classes and how Jurgis progresses through them through corruption.

They were forced to work longer without pay, work in unsanitary conditions, and more. Much later in the novel, after Jurgis has run away fromm his family, become an alcoholic, and homeless, he accidently stumbles upon a political meeting where he is first introduced to socialism. When he first gets to the meeting, he enters just to sit and rest until someone encourages him to listen to the speech. To his surprise, the speaker is pointing out the terrible conditions that workers face each day. Additionally, he talks about how capitalists grind most workers into capitulation. Jurgis has never heard anyone speak so vividly of the realities he was facing each day, causing him much joy. This was the first time a political party was in favor of the working class rather than the privileged and wealthy. Sinclair does an excellent job of developing the theme of reform from capitalism to socialism. As he speaks to Ostrinski, a Lithuanian speaking socialist, he is informed that just because America is politically free doesn’t mean there is no “wage slavery”. When Jurgis finds a new job, under a socialist boss, Sinclair makes it obvious that this is a much better political party than capitalism since Jurgis is making thirty plus dollars each month. This new wage is nothing compared to the amount he was making before. Throughout the novel capitalism is portrayed as a destructive form of government while Sinclair promotes socialism.

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

From 1865 to 1910, the Industrial Age was an interesting time of great economic growth and prosperity for the United States as a whole, however the American citizens who worked to push this positive chain of success paved the way and paid the cost for that very occurrence. In The Jungle, a family from Lithuania travels to the United States in order to gain a better living than what they had in their home country. During their time of adjustment to life within the United States, some members of the Rudkus and Lukoszaite family especially Jurgis Rudkus, experienced extreme hardship while attempting to develop their lives into a better state for the sake of their family’s wellbeing. Upton Sinclair opens a small window into the lives of hopeful and hardworking immigrants to reveal how America’s Industrialization Age hindered many from true freedom. This was due to a lack of care for employees and their wellbeing in the workplace, poor sanitary conditions that led to unhealthy living conditions for workers, and political corruption which was held over certain citizens in order to allow corruption to thrive, making workers remain powerless.

Throughout the story, “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, uses of propaganda are displayed. Sinclair applies numerous hyperboles and unrealistic ideas/scenarios to his novel. This can be proven through the Calamities that befall on Jurgis and his immigrant family. Sinclair describes the conditions of the family as well as their workplaces. His true goal was to display the hardships of immigrants caused by politics, economics, and industry. Therefore, his exaggeration use is applied to gain the attention of the public through the use of propaganda. This was an attempt to abolish the corrupt system of politics and industry that caused for many immigrants and others to obtain great hardship and calamities. An initial reading of The Jungle by Upton

The metaphor of the human being as a waste product allows Sinclair to tap into the guilt feelings of his audience.  At times, the book reminds one of those late-night TV solicitations for funds for third-world children.  What is interesting is that this is not particularly a good novel to read; the writing is dogmatic and often polemical.  Rather than trying to convince with reason and subtlety, Sinclair is shoving a point of view down the throats of those watching.  Still, this brutal approach is the only way to make an impression on an audience so far removed from the reality depicted in the novel.  Such an approach draws on the Catholic/Jewish/universal guilt that is plied by Sinclair like a preacher through the meat market of industrial life.  Rudkus comes into the novel full of hope and the reader must identify with his hopes and dreams.  Yet these dreams are not exactly fodder for a successful novel, if Rudkus was to find his American Dream.  The dream he finds is as rotten as the sausage that he processes, as is the American Dream in the socialist mindset of Sinclair.

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.

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.