America is known as the golden opportunity to live a better life, have freedom, and liberty. Immigrants believe that America could improve their quality of life. Immigrants encountered extreme poverty in their countries and affording a family was impossible. However, the reality is much more horrendous and the true successors in the labor force are the wealthy business owners. The Jungle is a fictional novel by Upton Sinclair, reveals the real reality of working in the labor force in America and the dehumanizing of capitalism. The capitalist class took advantage of the working class by having them under their thumb and took away labor rights, threatening their freedom of speech, and abusing them physically and mentally. The working …show more content…
Then Jurgis coveted his face with his hands, for there were tears in his eyes, and he felt like a fool. But he had such a horrible fright: strong man as he was, it left him almost too weak to stand up.”(Sinclair 62). Jurgis and Ona 's family buy a house in poor conditions and needs to pay rent for seven years. Unfornaletely, rent is extremely high and Antanus, a Jurgis old man, gets a job in the pickle room. Antanus old age became the reason why he couldn 't handle the job and ends up dying.
Secondly, Jurgis realize that the meatpacking plant ethics are not appropriate, so he joins a union. Jurgis becomes injured in work and very ill, so the bills end up pilling up. Maria ends up sending her children to the workforce to provide for the expenses. The author also provides how the workforce affect a woman. Ona becomes pregnant once again and sick from working for many hours. She deals with her boss harassing her. Jurgis becomes arrested for confronting the Ona 's boss. She decides to leave her home. The family ends up dealing with more economic disadvantages. Jurgis ends up lay off and gets a job in fertilizer with the worst job qualities. Life after prison is not easy either, but Jurgis still becomes hopeful to help out his family with the bills. When he goes home he realizes that his family is another resident home. Unfortunately, Ona gave birth but both the baby and she did not make it. Jurgis ends up looking for work to
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).”
In the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair there are many ways that different literary elements are used to explore a political or social issue. One main issue has to do with the meat packing industry and how the workers are treated. In the novel, the main character had moved to America to find work and live the American Dream but his time in America was anything but a dream. Upton Sinclair uses many literary elements in his work to show imagery, metaphors/ similes and personification all why relating to the social issue of the packing industry.
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.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was about Jurgis Rudkus who was an immigrarnt from Lithuania that came to the United States to discover his dreams, hopes, and desires. He took his family to Chicago to begin a new life. He worked in meatpacking industries that were unsanitary and brutal amount of hours that resulted into starvation. He was mistreated and realized the American dream wasn't as easy as it seemed. The book deals with disease, hunger, corruption, crime, poverty and death. “Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money – I will work harder.” This was said by Jurgis frequently because him and Ona always struggled with money and having a job but Jurgis never wanted Ona to stress about those problems. Jurgis always took charge
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a vivid account of life for the working class in the early 1900s. Jurgis Rudkus and his family travel to the United States in search of the American dream and an escape from the rigid social structure of Lithuania. Instead, they find a myriad of new difficulties. Sinclair attributes their problems to the downfalls of capitalism in the United States. While America’s system was idealistic for Jurgis and his family at first, the mood of the story quickly transforms to assert that capitalism is evil. This theme drives the author’s message and relay of major issues throughout the entirety of the novel. The idea of capitalism and social Darwinism is to
The Jungle is book that takes the reader in a period in time where the “American Dream” was the only thing worth believing in the daily job struggles of immigrants in America during the early twentieth century. What is the American Dream? It is said that any man or woman willing to work hard in this country and work an honest day is capable living and could support his family and have an equal opportunity to success. Although The Jungle was taken account more on how the meat production was disgusting and unhealthy for production and consumption. However many missed the real message of this book in which Sinclair wants to engage the reader in particular scenario of the failure of capitalism. According to Sinclair, socialism is the only way out of the failure of capitalism. It is the way that all problems can be solved and works for the benefit of everyone where capitalism works against the people. The slow destruction of Jurgis’s family at the hands of a cruel and unfair economic and social system demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class. As the immigrants, who believe an idealistic faith in the American Dream of hard work leading to material success, are slowly used up, tortured, and destroyed.
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
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.
Several years before and after the turn the turn of the twentieth century, America experienced a large influx of European immigration. These new citizens had come in search of the American dream of success, bolstered by promise of good fortune. Instead they found themselves beaten into failure by American industry. Upton Sinclair wanted to expose the cruelty and heartlessness endured by these ordinary workers. He chose to represent the industrial world through the meatpacking industry, where the rewards of progress were enjoyed only by the privileged, who exploited the powerless masses of workers. The Jungle is a novel and a work of investigative journalism; its primary purpose was to inform the general public about the dehumanization
Not only did the family stumble upon difficulties in their workplaces, but in basic living conditions as well. Jurgis and his family witnessed such atrocities, as baby Antanas tragically drowning in the unpaved roads, devastating financial loss through misinformation concerning the purchase and custody of their house, and unsanitary meat packed and sold for regular consumption.
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 by Upton Sinclair is a tough read that teaches the corrupt policies of capitalism. The narrator, Jurgis, struggles with his new life in America because it isn’t the ideal dream that most immigrants have. Jurgis’ struggles are understandable, but there are many who have never had to experience what he has so it is harder to sympathize and compare oneself to that of a character with no similarities. However, this novel also teaches the hardships immigrants typically went through during their transitions, or their lives in general, in America while also providing the reader with healthy confusion. This novel establishes a sense of confusion, uneasiness, or worry while also making the reader feel pleasure or happiness. There are several instances in the novel where the reader experiences this healthy confusion while learning about the differences in lifestyles between the fortunate and those looking to have a new life but encounter conflicts. Most scenes in this novel are sad, but also have happiness buried deep within the text or meaning.
Living in the bottom of the class system, capitalism takes a toll on Jurgis and his family. His
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.
“I aimed at the public 's heart and by accident I hit in the stomach (Upton Sinclair).” Upton Sinclair originally intended to expose the horrible conditions faced by immigrants as they tried to survive in Chicago 's Meat-Packing District in his 1904 novel “The Jungle.” Sinclair’s book created fear and anger in the public which would lead to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA)is a law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. In Sinclair’s novel, “The Jungle”, he goes undercover to work in the meat processing industry to expose the unfair working conditions, long hour work days, and the cruel and unsafe conditions. Sinclair has a few possible themes in his book but the most import ant themes were cruelty towards immigrants and poor safety regulations for food in industries at the time.