The American Dream In Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

The American Dream is not a function of ability and achievement, but a dying illusion. America is not truly the land of the free, but an ignorant classist society. Gregory Clark, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, stated that “America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England or pre-industrial Sweden … That’s the most difficult part of talking about social mobility - it 's shattering people 's dreams” (qtd. in Evans). The United States has an incredibly outdated economic system that does not allow disadvantaged citizens opportunities regardless of how hard they work. People get stuck in their social status and are not able to stray out of it, which affects their further generations. Additionally, immigrants coming to America in hopes of prosperity are likely to have even less luck than immigrants of the pass and widen the gap of social inequality. Clark continues to state, “The truth is that the American Dream was always an illusion. Blindly pursuing

America historically owns the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. At the root of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that with hard work anyone can succeed based solely on his or her merits. While definitions of success vary, the American Dream defines it as the ability to become a "self-made man," thereby rising to a more-than-comfortable state of living. The American Dream is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status and at a first glance, seems to be almost Utopian. Conversely, repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh

Muckraking, “to search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics” (dictionary.com). Upton Sinclair gained fame in the early 1900’s from his muckraking novel, The Jungle, describing the life of a young Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis, living in Chicago in pursuit of the American dream. Jurgis found out that America isn’t as good as it appeared; with higher wages came more expensive goods, and with cheaper houses came higher interest rates. The Jungle, a fictional novel, tells of the real horrors of working in a Chicago meat packing factory. Sinclair had gone undercover, in a meat factory, for seven weeks to gain the information necessary to write the book. Throughout the novel, there are hints of

During the course of The Jungle, Sinclair’s characters are demonstrative of the immigrant factory labourers, collectively, most notably through Jurgis Rudkus, the main character in Sinclair’s The Jungle. Following the promise of the American Dream, Jurgis travels to America in 1906 with his father, his wife-to-be and her family in pursuit of happiness and freedom. Jurgis can be described as “the sort of man the bosses like to get hold of” (23), with a strong immigrant work ethic and ambition to achieve success in America simply through hard work. This was a belief that Sinclair characterized into Jurgis, which made apparent to the reader that working hard shall warrant financial rewards under a capitalist supremacy, “I will work harder” (77), as Jurgis earnestly promises upon finding out that they must pay interest in addition to the monthly rent on the house they just “bought”. As Jurgis’s optimism and innocence are gradually pulverized into oblivion by the domineering, challenging, and treacherous conditions of life in Packingtown, the effects cause Jurgis to sustain uncharacteristic actions for an extended

Another interesting trajectory that the concept of “The American Dream” can give a key, is the concept of social classes. Social classes that we have today are upper, middle, lower and the working class. “The American Dream” is rewarding those who are hard workers, who have qualities and skills, those people can always reach the top goals. But now days we have people who are working hard, who have skills but they barely make the ends. This shows that material success is very difficult to reach; we have 1% of rich people who have the financial resources to control the rest of people (Schaefer 216).

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

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.

When people think of the American Dream, most think of the good that arises with it. They don’t consider the hardships and obstacles one must overcome. Many immigrants come to America in hopes of accomplishing their dreams and aspirations, and if they can’t, maybe their children can. Haspel debates how “The U.S. has changed drastically in the last several decades. The middle class, which was the heart of the American Dream, is dwindling, and the disparity of wealth among social classes continues to grow.” (41) This defends the popular phrase “The rich get richer while the poorer get poorer.” In essence, the American Dream can be viewed as the aim to climb the economic ladder. As the economic gap between the different social classes grow, it becomes harder for certain groups to see the American Dream as an attainable goal. The American Dream entails a variety of opportunities, and it is hard for minorities to grasp such opportunities with limited resources. Haspel also debates that “Another issue contributing to the decay of the American Dream is the country’s changing family

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 American dream is the traditional social ideals of the US, such as equality and democracy. It is a life where people achieve happiness; this is done through risk taking, sacrifice, and hard work. In the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, it shows that the American dream is very difficult if not impossible to achieve for immigrants. One of the main characters, Jurgis Rudkus, hopes that through hard work and honesty he can gain the American dream, but he does not know that the American dream is dictated by naturalism and corruption. Jurgis believes the American dream is not having a lot of money, but rather having the ability to provide for his family. After migrating to Chicago his family and him discover the American Dream is nothing but

The American Dream has always been a driving force in the lives of Americans. It has become a foundation of ideals and hopes for any American or immigrant. Specifically, one of the ideals that always exist is the dream of America free of class distinction. Every American hopes for a society where every person has the opportunity to be whomever he or she desire. Another ideal in the American dream is the drive to improve the quality of life. As one’s idea of the American Dream gets closer and closer, often times political and social ideals of America cause their American Dream to take a turn for the worst.

The American Dream is an ideology that, in some people’s opinions, motivates people to work hard in order to get ahead. This ideology legitimates capitalism by creating the assumption that economics are influenced primarily by merit; however, this is an aged idea. Capitalism enables victim blaming by making people believe in a meritocratic system that does not truly exist, and does not take other factors into consideration that lead to success, as does the American Dream. The American Dream thrives on the idea that each individual is responsible for oneself.

“The American Dream” is advertised as being the act of a person having an idea, goal, or as the saying suggests, a dream, and then them spending time, energy, and money to make it come true. However, if you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a reason they call it a dream because it hardly becomes a reality. More and more people are realizing this so called “dream” is nothing but a hoax, and that the promises America assures and guarantees such as equal opportunity and equal success are nothing but pure manipulation. Furthermore, the American dream no longer stands by the virtue of discrimination and prejudice, overwhelming debt, and failed establishments.

  The American Dream promises that, if you work hard, you can build a better life for yourself and your family. What that ideology implies, though, is that there are no obstacles between poor men and success except their own willingness or unwillingness to work. It's as though American society has no social classes or barriers to advancement. Sinclair is trying to expose just how many obstacles there are between poor working men and success: problems like lack of education, lack of influence or power in society, poor familiarity with official government and legal systems, and enduring poverty all prevent Jurgis from achieving his dream of

When the United States of America comes to mind, one will typically associate it with the common phrase, “The American Dream.” Ah, yes, the land in which “we are the authors of our own fate” (Graff, Birkenstein, Durst 539). Throughout the readings, it has been argued that the American Dream is dwindling due to worldwide economic development and middle-class-erasing government policies. Conversely, claims have been made saying the American Dream is intact and more alive than ever. This dispute alone is creating a divided nation. There are also underlying reasons as to which America may not be as promising as it appears, considering it still seems as if certain groups are provided with more opportunity than others. Following the examination of various essays on American inequality, I have concluded that The American Dream is nothing but a dream. Those with a higher education will just about always gain the ideal opportunites over the uneducated.