Symbolism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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.

And he writes of dishonest politicians and tricky real-estate salesmen. At the core of the story, Sinclair tells about the devastation and the falling apart of Jurgis's family as a result of the ruthless, abusive, and oppressive nature of work and life in Packingtown. By the end, Jurgis wanders alone, deprived of all dignity. He comes across a rally of political socialists, hears a speech on socialism, and enthusiastically converts to that cause. In the last chapters of the novel, Sinclair manifests arguments for socialism, in the form of speeches that Jurgis hears. The book ends with an appeal of a socialist speaker to "Organize! Organize! Organize!" so that "Chicago will be ours! Chicago will be ours! CHICAGO WILL BE OURS!" (Sinclair 372-73)

In the book, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair advocates for the overall elimination of oppression and exploitation of workers and immigrants and the use of socialism as a solution. The book depicts, and illustrates, the events and outcome of Jurgis and his family from Lithuania coming to the America’s in hopes of a better life, from the ideology of “The American Dream”. Jurgis believes that hard work will pay off no matter the size of the problem, however him and his family realize that the America’s posses corruption, harmful working conditions, and oppression of the worker and immigrants. Sinclair uses examples to express the hardships and cruelty that lower class workers faced to allow the reader to perceive whether or not there is a need for change in the system. Frederick Douglass uses the same form of writing to bring light to the harsh and unjust experiences he endured in order to persuade and communicate why there is a need to accomplish what he is advocating for.

As of 2015, immigrants make up more than 43.3 percent of the United States population. By the early 1900s there were already more than 10 million immigrants living in America. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle reveals the struggles and hardships of a family that immigrated to the United States from Lithuania during the 1900s. Although many immigrant families came to America in search of a better life, soon most found themselves barely surviving with no job, food, shelter, or money. As is the case of the family in The Jungle. The novel not only unveils the corruption of the political and economic system during the time, but also exposes the severe torment and misery that was faced by the working class. Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, describes

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.

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.

In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Sinclair introduces several issues that were going on in the Progressive Era and after. During the Progressive Era, Sinclair wanted to improve society somehow and to open the people's eyes about what was really going on, this is called muckraking. He wrote about problems that the working society went through year round and somehow described them nastier. The main character in the book is Jurgis Rudkus and he is from the Lithuanian countryside. It first starts off with the wedding of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite, and it introduces tiny problems that the guests have with the wedding feast, especially in the meat. Furthermore, in Lithuanian weddings, the hosts would never let one

The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, is a novel shedding light on work conditions in factories and constant unjustified acts. The story is filled with many different political and social issues for immigrants in the early 1900s. Sinclair uses multiple literary devices to express these issues in a way the reader may understand. Of the many issues pointed out in this novel, the one that stood out the most was disillusionment. The characters are constantly faced with new ideas they don’t yet understand, making them vulnerable to such an issue.

The American industrial revolution is normal thought of as a time of happiness and prosper because of the constant stream of innovations and technologies. However, most of the hardships and struggles that were faced in this time we're not the American citizens, but the immigrants that came in search of jobs and a better life. Sadly, these immigrants didn't find a better life and instead worked long hours in terrible conditions with little pay. The novel, The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair focusses on the struggles and hardships of these very immigrants. Through the use of figurative language in the Novel, The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, Sinclair tries to convey his message that the immigrant workers during the industrial revolution

In The Jungle, Author Upton Sinclair uses Jurgis, the main character of the book, as an example of what the common working man’s life was like. Jurgis, along with all his family are Lithuanian immigrants, who just immigrated to the U.S. Not knowing the foreign culture, they were hired by a meatpacking plant. This plant, ran by corrupt politicians, applied strict rules and regulations; not reimbursing/paying their workers enough, long hours, etc. Jurgis joined a Union, after realizing he should fight for his rights as a laborer. Sinclair’s opinion about labor rights was, that the common working man should fight for, and be granted more rights to increase their chance of supporting their families.

The Jungle is a book that was written in 1906, in the middle of the Progressive Era. It was written by Upton Sinclair for the purpose to try to awaken the reader to the terrible living conditions of immigrants in the cities. This novel specifies in every little detail about the living conditions and the working conditions of the immigrants. In this book, Sinclair indirectly articulates what the American Dream was and what it meant for all the immigrants, with a purpose to reach people’s hearts, but instead it led them to worry about their own health.

Upton Sinclair’s classic novel, The Jungle, strongly illustrates the negative consequences of capitalism through the harsh conditions immigrants faced living in America in the early 1900’s. In the novel, the reader is introduced to Jurgis Rudkus and his family who emigrated from Lithuania to the States in hope for a better future. Although many issues arose in the novel,

The idea of the “American dream” (the Dream) forwarded by James T. Adam, a nation defining ethos embedded within the foundation of society’s institutions, political economy, and psych, is the primary theme of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Through the storytelling of Lithuanian immigrants in early 19th century Chicago, he illustrates the concept as a dark, depressing fable of hypocrisy used to further capitalist society. There are three main components of the Dream Sinclair explores in The Jungle: self-motivated hard work, family values, and self-reliance. This paper will analyze Sinclair’s flat-out rejection of these components as they are shattered and destroyed through the narratives of Jurgis, and in contrast, Ona.

The Jungle was a book written by Upton Sinclair in 1906 about the terrible conditions and manipulation immigrants faced in the United States in Chicago and other industrialized cities in the US. The novel was centered upon a Lithuanian family who heard stories of America and the better life it had to offer. Excited about all the opportunities in America, the family of 13 including Jurgis Rudkus, Ona Lukoszaite, Elzbieta Lukoszaite, Marija Berczynskas, Jonas, Antanas Rudkus, Little Antanas Rudkus, Stanislovas, Kotrina, Vilimas, Nikalojus, Juozapas, and Kristoforas, packed their bags and moved to America, the “land of opportunity.” There they found opportunities where, more often than not, they were manipulated by people. The book discusses the horrors inside the meat-packing industry that would turn some vegan and make most meat eaters cringe, but; nonetheless, keep eating. Using imagery and connotative diction to amplify the characters, plot, and theme in his novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair is able to successfully capture the reader’s emotions and reveal the unsanitary environments, unfair working conditions, and unethical business practices in America's meat-packing industries.