The 20s And Sinclair Lewis Essay

During the 1930's American citizens witnessed a breakdown of the Democratic and free enterprise way of life. The government saw that the free enterprise system was failing. The New Deal increased the government's regulation and intervention and the economic system, thus temporarily abandoning the capitalism system and turning toward socialism to find the answer. The answer... the New Deal. Socialism is usually thought of as a form of government that advocates public ownership and public control of wealth (Britannica Jr. Encyclopedia 1980, p.231).

Rarely has the world seen such a unique decade in time as the Roaring Twenties. It was an age of prosperity and change. The United States experienced a recession that was followed by a period of unlimited prosperity. Although the United States encountered both positive and negative experiences, it proved to be very influential in the future. The 1920's were definitely "Roaring" in more ways than one. There were major changes in American Society during the 1920's that took place. Many new industries emerged during this decade that influenced society and the American way of life. Even the federal government had different feelings about the business industry. The characteristics of this decade made the 1920's

Being American means taking a risk, going outside of your comfort zone to discover more about yourself,

In the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair; this was first published by Fine Creative Media Inc. in 1906 (edition I read was published in 2003) it discuses life as an immigrant and how immigrants foresaw the American dream and how they tired to achieve it. There where many themes for the book. The theme that I took was most important was that life on the other side is not always better then what one has. This theme can be shown many different ways throughout the book. It is shown through the plot and through many examples of event that occurred though the book.

The decade of the 1930’s can be characterized in two parts: The Great Depression, and the restoration of the American economy. America had been completely destroyed due to the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It was up to the government and people of the 1930’s to "mend" America’s wounds. One man stood up to this challenge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He promised to fix the American economy, provide jobs, and help the needy. During The Great Depression, the crime rate had risen to an all new high. J. Edgar Hoover helped to create the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As America was restored, culture grew quickly. Dance clubs, new music styles, glamour girls, movies and sports were all popular forms of entertainment in the

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.

For centuries immigrants have left their homes and have journeyed to the United States in pursuit to live out the “American Dream”, an idea that the U.S. will provide people with a better life. However, this “better life” was not just given upon arrival, immigrants were not told the horrid experiences, and backbreaking hour, they would face in search for a better life. There is no better representation of this than Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, this book is a very accurate representation of the life of the vast majority of people within the United States. During the time when this book was written there were few jobs, and the jobs that were obtainable were mostly factory jobs with horrible conditions that entailed excruciating hours. Aside from the dangerous conditions, the pay was next to nothing making it near impossible to afford food and shelter, let alone providing for a family. Immigrants quickly found out that the “American Dream” was not the glorified vision that they thought, rather more like the song “Welcome to the Jungle” by “Guns N Roses”. After examining the lyrics, you can tell the similarities Axl Rose and the rest of Guns N Roses were facing as they tried to make it in the music industry. “In the jungle, welcome to jungle, watch it bring you to your knees, I wanna watch you bleed,” once you get to the U.S. you’ll get ripped down to almost nothing and suffer from the horrible conditions that you are faced with. The Jungle takes all of the issues immigrants

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.

In 1920s, America undergoes a period of cultural and social revolution. After the shocks by the chaos and violence of WWI, with a burst of economy which brought unprecedented levels of prosperity to the country, the generation turned into a lifestyle of wild and extravagant. Both published in 1925, the time when the jazz age at it’s peak, “The great Gatsby” by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway depict the fragmentation of the soared society by narrating the experience of characters.

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.

All characters represents an actual person in American society during the 1930s. The linking between the book, characters and The Great

The 1920s was a huge time period for the United States. Modern technology such as automobiles, radios, and advertisement had taken America by storm. Rural areas were on the decline. American cities had attracted not only rural and urban citizens, but also people from all over the world. In America during the 1920s, citizens struggled with accepting other races and ethnicities into their widely populated country.

Lewis wanted to show the reader, a man who's life is based on the ideals

The depressing tragedy known as Babbitt, by Lewis Sinclair, accurately portrays the convention of life in the 1920’s. Sinclair precisely evokes the conformity and orthodox life styles that shaped a growing culture. Man, in the 1920’s, is caught in a lifestyle where he is continually fed on what to think. Lewis cunningly explains the constraints of convention that plagued George Babbitt, and mocks society as a whole for its lack of liberal views. Babbitt throughout the novel seems to be trapped in a maze, and is told by “the machine” when to turn. Only when Babbitt revolts against conservative America does his life change, but the question is was it for the better?

   The idea of conspicuous consumption, or buying unnecessary items to show one's wealth, can be seen in Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.  Lewis describes the main character of the book, George F. Babbitt, as a person who has his values and priorities all mixed up.  Babbitt buys the most expensive and modern material goods just to make himself happy and make people around his aware of his status.  He is more concerned about these items than about his wife or children and to him, "god was Modern Appliances" (Lewis 5).  Through Babbitt, Lewis is attempting to show how the average American person will do or buy anything, even if  unnecessary, only to show off and make peers think