John Upton Sinclair's 'The American Dream'

The American Dream is a commonly known theme among the general population today. It states that with the right amount of work any US citizen can obtain success in their lives. This idea was popularized around 1930 with James Truslow Adam’s book “The Epic of America” bringing about the idea that there is opportunity for everyone in America if they can work hard enough.3 This idea of the American dream however began much earlier than the 20th century. Rather it began in the west in the 1800s as US citizens gained the ability to cross the frontier and begin completely new lives, whether those lives became advantageous or not. According to the American Dream the western settler’s level of work, not race or gender, would determine whether or not he or she became successful. However this was not the case. The American Dream of the 19th century is disparate from the one known today. Unlike Adam’s “American Dream” of the 1930s, this western “American Dream” was heavily skewed towards white male, US citizen obtainment. This was because the main drive of the western frontier was for white male US citizens to profit from the newly obtained land and keep it for themselves thus fulfilling their new “American Dream.” In the mid19th century, economic opportunities existed in the Western Frontier of America, allowing people to go and accomplish their dreams if they had the motivation, but those opportunities were prohibitive for women, nonwhites, or non US

Thesis Statement: The achievement of the American Dream, represented by social classes and opportunities available for social advancement, is unrealistic. The American Dream is propaganda for capitalism, rooted into the minds of believers that are used for labor. Capitalism’s fixed social classes leave no room for immigrants or for the hopeful to move up towards material success and wealth.

Over time, The American Dream has changed in an innumerable amount of ways. Past civilizations have laid the foundation for what we view it to be today. In the 1970s, people looked at a variety of aspects such as culture, political affairs (government), one’s appearance, and entertainment to fit their definition of “The American Dream”. The 1970’s helped shape and influence what people regard as the current American Dream.

The gilded age had produced many industrialists eager to line their pockets. Mass consumerism had given it a hunger from every level of society. (p66) The Factory System made efficient by Fordism was able to chew up not only livestock but people as well. Master artisans’ skill were ignored and their knowledge slaughtered with the animals pushed through the stockyards. The mindless task of simple repeated movements was the reward for groveling to perform at the lowest wage possible. Demands for higher wages were met with termination of employment. (p247) Sinclair illustrated these facets of Progressive life with his character Jurgis. At the beginning of Jurgis’ journey, Jurgis was in excellent health and very strong. Jurgis’ eagerness to work, strength, and lack of English comprehension were the only characteristics in which the shop foreman was interested. The workman’s queue outside of the factory entrance frequently turned into a

Most citizens today work on the basis of the American Dream, their hopes replaying in their minds every day as they work to get themselves at the top of the chain in the land of opportunity. The minds of the laborers filled with hope that one day everything will be better and the fruit of their labor will soon bloom to light. But, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle paints a more grim reality of hard work and the dream that Jurgis and his family held so dear to his heart. The corruption of the American Dream conveys the delusion of a reward for the hard work and suffering of the laborers in Packingtown instead showing it as an illusion created by capitalism.

They say, "A book is a device to ignite the imagination" and when I first saw your "Suggestions to Get You Started Reading" list, I knew The Jungle was going to be that spark. Reading The Jungle had been on my to-do list ever since I successfully completed the most vigorous course Schalick High School has to offer: AP US History. From what I learned, Sinclair was a muckraker who sought to reform society from social ills through his exposes. Consequently, The Jungle became a catalyst for cleaner, safer food production. Nonetheless, after completing Sinclair's novel, it was evident that Sinclair's purpose was not to criticize the condition of the meat in the slaughterhouses. Instead, The Jungle was written to condemn, what Sinclair thought to be, two social ills of

Furthermore, Sinclair uses the characters of Jurgis, Marija, and Phil Connor to show the struggles, flaws, and difficulties in the immigrant experience and overall hollowness. American dream. Through characterization, Sinclair communicates that socialism is the solution for the evils of capitalism, the immigrant experience, and the hollowness of the American Dream.

Sinclair revealed wage slavery through wage laborers who are always on the edge of a financial crisis. In the novel, Juris injured himself and was unable to work at the moment which interrupted the family’s financial stability, forcing them to work more to make ends meet. The conditions for the family was so harsh for so little pay. Sinclair reveals capitalism as a threat when Jurgis son died. Sinclair tries to show the reader that poverty and misery has detached Jurgis from his family and sets capitalism as a threat to important

Work hard and make more money. That was the mindset for Jurgis Rudkus, a young male immigrant from Lithuania, who is a leading character in Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle. This was also the mindset for many immigrant workers coming to the United States, during a time where individuals strived for a better future. Main character Jurgis Rudkus and his family, were immigrants who moved to Chicago in hopes of a better life. Like so many other families, they came here with hopes of success and the fulfillment of a better life, which they had been sold upon. The American Dream was the idea, stated, emphasized, and protected by America’s Declaration of Independence. Immigrants believed in this idea whole-heartedly. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, was the quote written by the nation’s Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence (US 1776). This quote provided individuals with the hope of a greater opportunity here in America, and excitement as they embarked upon their journey in pursuit of a better life. In Chicago, this dream, was not one

What is the American Dream? Some describe the American Dream as a two parent family with two kids and a dog living in a home with a white picket fence. Others declare having millions of dollars and a beach home is the ultimate goal. So, what exactly is the American Dream? In the Conservative conference speech “We Will Be a City upon a Hill”, Ronald Reagan demanded that traditional values defined the American Dream while President Obama argued equality was quintessential. In both presidential speeches, they each discussed two vastly drastic interpretations of the American Dream however, their speeches both themed constructs seen in Jim Cullen’s book to support their arguments.

For many, the word “jungle” brings to mind a tropical overgrowth of dense vegetation and swooping, snake like vines, not the miserable, poverty-stricken Packingtown of industrial Chicago. However, in The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s exposé of the meatpacking industry, many of the jungle’s primitive rules of survival govern the “urban jungle” of Chicago. Unaware of what they must do to survive, Jurgis and his family struggle to find the core values of the American dream that they naïvely believe in: acceptance, opportunity, hard work, and morality. Through their lives and surroundings, Sinclair displays how the occupants of Packingtown cast aside their moral values, in favor of greed, in order to survive.

How would one feel if they spent their entire lives working towards an unattainable goal? That goal is the American Dream, a term that can be loosely defined as one’s attempt at what they believe is success, whether it be a family, high-paying career, a beautiful home, or all three. The American Dream can be whatever one makes of it. James Baldwin and William Buckley strongly debated this issue with underlying similarities but ultimately Baldwin had a stronger argument. This House Believes in the American Dream is at the Expense of the American Negro, was a historic 1965 debate about society’s mistreatment of the African American race throughout history. Baldwin highlighted that white Americans innately believe they are still superior to African Americans and their pursuit of the American Dream holds more weight while Buckley attempted to discredit him. Baldwin drew scrutiny to the social injustices faced by blacks in their daily lives especially in their pursuit of the American Dream and attempted to direct white America’s attention to the issues that desperately need a solution.

Loneliness can drive people over the edge of sanity. It can also drive people together to make choices without sanity. In C.P Ellis’s article, American Dreams: Lost and Found, he states, “They’re in the same boat I was. Shut out. Deep down inside, we want to be part of this great society. Nobody listens, so we join these groups”(Ellis 1). Playing on the social classes and social interactions, members of the KKK join the organization because they felt lost, useless, and misplaced. Majority of the members shared the same views on the black population, but they join to more fullfill the need of wanting to be apart of something. Loneliness drove they together; and as lonely insane people, they came together to harm others. There was no noble cause,

1. Gladwell believes in the American Dream. He believes that, by total willpower and hard work,

“We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Thomas Jefferson). When America was granted their freedom no one thought that it would become the country it is today. However without the smart thinking of our forefathers we would never be the nation we are today. As a newly formed nation Thomas Jefferson advertised relocation to America via the declaration which stated America promised three important things, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those three promises have always remained true as America progressed and the