Corruption In Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

The Jungle (1906), by Upton Sinclair, is a story mainly about the life and turmoil of a man who came to American in hopes that he will become a free, rich man with a beautiful wife, Ona, and happy family; this man is the young Jurgis Rudkus, a strong, energetic Lithuanian whose personality and life are all changed several times over the coarse of the story. Major— usually tragic— events that occur in the story serve as catalysts for Jurgis's dramatic, almost upsetting, transformations. There were four major turning points in Jurgis's life: after he loses his job and is forced to work at a fertilizer mill; when he loses his wife and children; when he is incorporated into the criminal and political underworlds; and when he picks his life

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.

Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle” is a classic story of greed, corruption, and misfortune following Jurgis Rudkis and his love interest/eventual wife, Ona Lukosazite, and their two families. The novel shows off the complexity of and fickle nature of life and all that within it that we all take for granted. The characters feel very human and their troubles are very sympathetic as well. One begins to feel delight as well as anguish at the author’s non-existent mercy.

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.

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 was about Jurgis Rudkus who was an immigrarnt from Lithuania that came to the United States to discover his dreams, hopes, and desires. He took his family to Chicago to begin a new life. He worked in meatpacking industries that were unsanitary and brutal amount of hours that resulted into starvation. He was mistreated and realized the American dream wasn't as easy as it seemed. The book deals with disease, hunger, corruption, crime, poverty and death. “Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money – I will work harder.” This was said by Jurgis frequently because him and Ona always struggled with money and having a job but Jurgis never wanted Ona to stress about those problems. Jurgis always took charge

During this chapter, Sinclair reveal that capitalism bought out the worst in people especially Jurgis. After Jurgis migrate to America, he became an alcoholic, a violent and an adamant man. For

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair details the life of a Lithuanian immigrant named Jurgis, in the late 1800’s. In the novel, Jurgis and his family immigrate to America in order to find prosperity and follow the “American Dream”. However, upon reaching reaching America, they face many trials and tribulations. Foremost, no one in the family is able to speak English, as well as being poor immigrants that are easily taken advantage of by society. Initially, Jurgis tries to keep his head up and tries through his own work to succeed, but as the events of the novel unfold, we see him tore down and corrupted. The moral corruption of Jurgis can be seen as a reflection of the environment in which he lived. In the end, Jurgis believed that the capitalistic society that he lived in was against the common man. The Jungle illustrates how greed and unchecked capitalism can have devastating effects on people.

“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” A quote by Upton Sinclair from his best known novel The Jungle. Sinclair, a social crusader from California, was an activist writer whose work often uncovered the social injustices occurring during his time. At the age of 14 Sinclair proved to be a force to recon with when he started attending City College of New York. After graduating Sinclair began grad work at Columbia University supporting himself by writing dime novels. In 1904 Sinclair was sent to Chicago by the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason to write an exposé. It’s intentions were to sympathise with the appalling treatment of the immigrants working in the meatpacking industry. After spending weeks undercover researching, Sinclair wrote a manuscript that would become The Jungle. In 1906 The Jungle became his sixth and most successful novel. The novel exploited the quality and impurities in processed meats and in results

The Jungle is usually associated with the federal legislation it provoked. Americans were horrified to learn about the terrible sanitation under which their meat products were packed. They were even more horrified to learn that the labels listing the ingredients in tinned meat products were full of lies. The revelation that rotten and diseased meat was sold without a single consideration for public health infuriated the American public. They consumed meat containing the ground remains of poisoned rats and sometimes unfortunate workers who fell into the machinery for grinding meat and producing lard. Within months of The Jungle's publication, the sale of meat products dropped

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, depicts life in the 20th Century fictional Chicago suburb of Packingtown. This area of the city is filled with pollution, poverty and a soaring crime rate. The main character, Jurgis Rudkus, struggles to provide for his family and begins to steal from people in order to make money. Jurgis and his wife, Ona make their children get jobs to help boost their income. It has been studied over the years that involving kids in social activities or programs is an effective way to lower crime rate. The Rudkus’ family is a prime example of how poverty adds to the soaring crime rate of the country. Some people will find that they have urges to steal, murder or kidnap, so the best ways to reduce crime rate are to encourage students to stay in school, stop giving criminals benefits while they’re serving time, and develop more effective strategies to keep people off the streets and out of jail.

The Jungle was written to demonstrate the evils of the capitalist system in America. In the novel, Upton Sinclair shows the way the capitalist system exploits the working class, gives absolute power to the wealthy few, and forces individuals to act only out of self-interest, regardless of the suffering of others. The Jungle portrays the many injustices that result from capitalism, including horrific working conditions, child labor, political corruption, prostitution, drinking, cheating, and crime. Workers are exposed to brutal working conditions where they suffer exhaustion, injury, bodily harm, and death. In order to survive, individuals must compete for these horrendous jobs, send their children to work and be prepared to lose more than a limb. Crooked real estate agents sell "new" homes, merchants sell medicine and food doctored up with chemicals, and politicians buy votes. Capitalism forces even well-intentioned people to become unfeeling and cutthroat and to prey on others to survive. For example, when Jurgis first arrives in America, he tries to make it as an honest worker at the meatpacking plant. After being continually beaten down, he starts drinking, leaves his remaining family, turns to crime, and later returns to the meatpacking plants where he works for corrupt politicians and as a scab during a strike. Throughout the book, capitalism has a dehumanizing effect, turning men into animals or machines to be used for

This hard working, yet naïve immigrant leads his family from Lithuania to the one word of English he knows, Chicago. In the beginning of the novel, Jurgis believes a good, strong work ethic is the foundation for what any person needs to be successful in America, even opposing the very idea of a union. Upton Sinclair affirms this idea by writing, “But Jurgis had no sympathy with such ideas as this- he could do the work himself, and so could the rest of them, he declared, if they were good for anything. If they couldn’t do it, let them go somewhere else” (Sinclair, 43). But throughout the novel, it is exposed that greedy businessmen take advantage of unskilled workers by lowering wages and extending working hours because of the abundance of immigrants willing to work for less. For example, business leaders employed women and children at a fraction of the pay rate compared to men, which promoted institutionalized poverty and highlighted the lack of government influence in this economic period. Everyone is willing to undercut each other just to survive the machinery of capitalism, as evident by the title The Jungle, a cut throat competition for survival. Just like the cattle and pigs lined up to be slaughtered in Packingtown, wave after wave of immigrants lined up to be worn down and abused by the non-stop grind of dehumanizing conditions. Sinclair shows that the painful and toxic evils of capitalism are the driving force which keeps hard working immigrants like Jurgis from leaving their socio-economic

Jurgis and his family arrive to America with hope that they will find a job and be able to have a home of their own. Like millions of other families in that time Jurgis and his family face enormous difficulties. For Sinclair the blame for all this is the prejudiced economic and social system which demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class. Many of the effects are the exploitation of workers, and women, corruption, the sale of contaminated meat, and adulteration of consumer products all

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.