Comparing Upton Sinclair's Life And Accomplishments

Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle had powerful political effects, resulting in his ultimate goal to create change. He was aware about the unsanitary conditions in the meat factories and therefore knew that something needed to be done. He was determined to implant a spark in readers and make them desire change. The variety of the rhetorical devices that Sinclair included helped him accomplish his goal. In chapter 14 from The Jungle, Upton Sinclair identifies imagery, personification, and pathos in order to inspire change upon the unhealthy standards and brutal work conditions in the factories.

1. The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, was a cause for some forms of Progressive-Era legislation, such as the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Jungle depicted a terrible scene of how animals were slaughtered mercilessly. According to the excerpt, "The shriek was followed by another, louder and yet more agonizing — for once started upon that journey, the hog never came back; at the top of the wheel he was shunted off upon a trolley, and went sailing down the room.

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).”

“But the tide was turned, according to historians and Dr. Wiley himself, when the voteless, but militant club of women throughout the country who rallied to the pure food cause” Janssen, 1981, ¶ 12). Undoubtedly, these women supported Dr. Wiley because he had become a popular speaker at their supper clubs where crusading writers of national magazines also joined his campaign by publishing his findings as editorials. Ultimately, legislation closely followed the January 1906 publishing of Upton Sinclair’s best-selling novel The Jungle, which portrayed dangerous working conditions as well as the unsanitary methods of Chicago’s meatpacking industry. On June 30, 1906, The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed providing inspection of meat products and prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and transport of harmful patent medicines.

This book was called The Jungle and its purpose was to bring attention to the hardships of plant workers (Constitutional Rights Foundation). However, when the public read his book, they were more appalled at the possibility of consuming contaminated meat than the hardships of plant workers, and so demanded that President Theodore Roosevelt and Congress do something about it (Laws.com). In response, President Roosevelt commissioned labor commissioner Charles P. Neill and social worker James Bronson Reynolds to investigate Sinclair's claims. What they found was exactly what Sinclair had described (Constitutional Rights Foundation). After the President and Congress heard of these deplorable conditions, they went to work creating a law to improve the working conditions in both slaughterhouses and meat processing plants. What they came up with was the Federal Meat Inspection Act (Constitutional Rights Foundation). The act improved conditions in slaughterhouses and meat processing plants by forcing slaughterhouses and meat processing plants to practice clean and sanitary handling and preparation of meat. It also required inspections of livestock and animal carcasses, as well as monitoring of slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, among other things (USLegal, Incorporated). All this helped to put an end to the dangerous and unsanitary conditions of

Countless of Sinclair’s ideals were shaped by his childhood and personal life. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20, 1878. He was an only child of a inebriate liquor salesman and a stern mother. His family moved to New York City when he was ten. He spent his childhood observing the differences poverty and wealth due to his mother 's rich family and his poor family. When he was fourteen, he attended the City College of

Upton Sinclair, the most influential writer regarding the food industry was born in Baltimore 1879. Growing up in a poor family with an alcoholic father was difficult for Upton (Simkin, John). Upton often lived with his wealthy grandparents during his childhood due to the instability in his own home. Moving from his poor parents house to his grandparents rich house constantly made him see the injustice in the American society, this made him become a radical socialist as young as his early teens. At 14, Upton being the intelligent and independent man he was, started attending New York City College. In order to make money to pay for his tuition, apartment, and still provide for his family, Upton sold magazines and news articles of his socialistic ideas. The childhood Upton struggled through with family and financial problems only made him strive to change the conditions of America in his writing.

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

Unlike Carson, who would find her naturalist roots to be her driving force, Sinclair's reasons for publishing his groundbreaking work would stem from his ties to the Socialist Party, rather than the actual material itself being covered. Sinclair would even go as to say that he had come to "write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor movement"(Arthur, 124) Carson and Sinclair would differ greatly on the subject of cause and motivation for their novels, regardless of the similar sized conflict and controversy.

Upton Sinclair’s views differed greatly from those of affluent leaders in the nineteenth century. In fact, Sinclair was one of few people who

Upton Sinclair was born in a small home in Maryland. His father was a raging alcoholic, mother a devout Episcopalian, who objected to the use of any substances. The extremes of such a relationship, one side a riches-to-rags liquor salesman, another a daughter of a wealthy family, left a lasting impact on Upton. Seeing both worlds gave him a broad view of how life could be like for those of the United States, helping fuel his ideals later in life.

     While the works of Upton Sinclair are not widely read today because of their primacy of social change rather than aesthetic pleasure, works like The Jungle are important to understand in relation to the society that produced them.  Sinclair was considered a part of the muckraking era, an era when social critics observed all that was wrong and corrupt in business and politics and responded against it.  The Jungle was written primarily as a harsh indictment of wage slavery, but its vivid depictions of the deplorable lack of sanitation involved in the meatpacking industry in Chicago resulted in public outrage to the point where Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection

Upton Sinclair was an American Writer who wrote nearly one hundred books and others works in several genres.

Have you ever heard of the book called The Jungle? This book was written by Upton Sinclair, a muckraker. Harry Sinclair Lewis was a janitor at Upton Sinclair's socialist colony and he was influenced by Sinclair’s idea of socialism. Therefore, their ideas are very much alike even though their childhood backgrounds were completely different. Upton Sinclair had a great impact on society by addressing social issues in the early 1900’s, so what is the significance of Lewis’s works? Some of his major representative works are Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith (“Assignment Five -- Sinclair Lewis Babbitt”). These books played a big role on muckraking the social corruptions in his time period.

In 1906, Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle was that starting point when the new coming meat industry was exposed. It began the Meat Inspection Act and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Since meat was such in high of demands, farmers had to