Review Of Upton Sinclair's 'The Man With The Muck-Rake'

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).”

Upton Sinclair was born in a small row house in Maryland, in 1878. When Sinclair was 10 years old, his father moved the family from Baltimore to New York. By this time, Sinclair had already begun to develop and interest and followed the works of Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley. When he turned 14, he attended the local college of New York and took several classes on English and Writing Skills to improve and create one of his own novels. At age 20 he finished his studies and decided to become a serious novelist and start writing his own book. During the same time is when he met his wife known as, Meta Fuller. Their relationship wasn’t very strong and this lead to Sinclair writing his first novel known as, Springtime and Harvest. In 1903,

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.

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

Who was Upton Sinclair is a question that is easily answered. Upton Sinclair was one in the group of American writers known as the muckrakers. Sinclair along with Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Ray Stannard Baker exposed scandal and corruption during the 20th century in hopes to right the injustices in the world and create a better place for everyone to live. Upton Sinclair is known as one of the most influential writers of his time due to his insuppressible ambition for equality, financial freedom, and truth. His strong desires led him to be a prominent Socialist that revealed the unfair working conditions in packing houses that eventually led to the Pure Food and Drug Act as well as the Meat Inspection Act.

At the turn of the century, the United States was an industrial country. However, society was not perfect. Muckrakers were writers who saw and discussed problems society faced. One muckraker “...aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident … hit it in the stomach” (Bloodsworth). The muckraker’s name is Upton Sinclair. Sinclair affected many aspects of society. Without the writings of Sinclair, society would not be aware of certain issues it faced such as capitalistic immorals, extensive needed problems and political problems.

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is an unashamed example of the journalistic style known as muckraking. Sinclair researched the conditions being fought against during the Progressive Era and painted a picture in literary form for the ignorant readers. The consumerism that taped into the greed of industrialists is drawn out many times. This greed, in turn, drove down the American Standard of living in almost every aspect. With every corner of hope demolished, a path was laid out for all to follow, the Progressive solution to the world: Socialism.

Even though the book was a socialist point of view, The work place was an unsafe and unhealthy area to work because the book describes the area of work as a vulgar place and the amount that were injured in that time frame. The sound of the area he has to work to feed his family was a terrible disgusting place, and the people sounded barbaric. I simply do not understand why no one said anything about this way of life. In the 1920 over 1200 workers were injured or killed in the the work area. This number is a very rough estimate that is very low but still is very high just to be able to thrive for his family. Just think about it they’re just trying to have a better life in america but they risk their lives everyday so they can make money.

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

The muckrakers were very effective in taking charge and trying to change issues during the industrial revolution. They used clever techniques to grab the attention of the public and expose the factories for the production of dubious products and forcing morbid, life threating work onto employees. One of these techniques muckrakers would use was when the authors would tell the readers of the different ages of certain workers working in these life threatening conditions. Perhaps the most successful techniques were used by Upton Sinclair. According to the Slate.com “Sinclair's book is renowned for its social impact more than for its qualities as a novel.” He uncovered the meat factories of utilizing human meat once in a while when a workers fell

During my investigating of one most famous muckrakers; I found was Upton Sinclair whom I have had the privilege to get know. Sinclair has shown to be a very interesting person. Sinclair has had many challenges over his life time; from the articles and books he has written, reforms that he has set in place, makes this person very interesting. Upton Sinclair was born September 20, 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was raised in poverty but his father worked as a liquor salesman, which gave him the chance to be around different types of people. Sinclair and his family moved when he was older and found himself growing up in New York City. He would tell me of some stories about loving the works of Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley, which at every chance he would get to read these works. Upton started college at a young age of fourteen and where he went to school was the City College

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.

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 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.