Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: An Everyday Hero

Upon reading Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle, it can easily be seen that there were numerous injustices occurring within the early 1900s Chicago government. He wrote the book in 1906 after spending six months gathering research on the lives of poor, low class, immigrant families. With this information, he published his first book, The Jungle, through which he displays the hardships a immigrant family faces when they move to America. He chose the meat packing industry in the city of Chicago as his backdrop for this story, and while the names of the characters are fictional, most of the story is based on his real observations. He originally wrote the book trying to “set forth the breaking of human hearts by a system which exploits the labor of men and women for profit,” but people took it the wrong way, and Sinclair explained this misinterpretation when he says “I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” (NCBI) By this, he means that he wanted the American people to see the plight of the immigrants but instead the general public was more upset by the unsanitary condition of the meat they were ingesting. While Sinclair may not have achieved his original goal, his book did in fact have a significant impact; an impact that still effects the American people of today. It led to the creation of the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 which is the predecessor to the modern day FDA (Young 231) (US Food). The Jungle shows the corruption in the Chicago government through the main character Jurgis and his trial, the raping of his wife Ona, and the unsanitary conditions in the meat factories where he worked.

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair uncovers the horrors of working in the meatpacking district of Chicago. Sinclair acquired the inspiration to write The Jungle when he was sent into the stockyards to unveil the truth about the workingmen’s lives in Chicago. Sinclair’s story caused an uproar and led to him being labeled as a muckraker, a term that referred to journalists that documented the harsh conditions of workers during industrialization. He intended his novel to bring light to the socialist party, but instead the readers were more concerned about the diseased and mistreated meat that the were eating. Because of the upset, Sinclair’s novel led to the formation of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Sinclair published five novels between 1904 and 1906, but none were as influential or as popular as The Jungle. A silent movie was made as a film adaptation of this story in 1914. I have not read any of the other novels published by Upton Sinclair.

At the beginnings of the 1900s, some leading magazines in the U.S have already started to exhibit choking reports about unjust monopolistic practices, rampant political corruption, and many other offenses; which helped their sales to soar. In this context, in 1904, The Appeal to Reason, a leading socialist weekly, offered Sinclair $500 to prepare an exposé on the meatpacking industry (Cherny). To accomplish his mission, Sinclair headed to Chicago, the center of the meatpacking industry, and started an investigation as he declared“ I spent seven weeks in Packingtown studying conditions there, and I verified every smallest detail, so that as a picture of social conditions the book is as exact as a government report” (Sinclair, The

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

The 20th century consisted of social and political reformers who wanted to address the rapid change in economy and culture due to Industrialization. Upton Sinclair was one of the most vigorous socialist activist. His literature was a strong influence in the Progressive Era. Sinclair is widely know for both his writings and political career. Although he published over 90 books, his success is due to The Jungle (1906), a true muckraking exposé.

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.

. A. Upton Sinclair wrote, “The Jungle”, to expose the appalling working conditions in the meatpacking industry.

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.

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.

The Jungle demonstrates the exploitation of workers under the capitalist system where the majority of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few while workers like Jurgis are forced to become wage slaves in order to survive. Not only does the owners see workers as “wild beasts” and trap

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 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.

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).”

Anything in a novel can be represented as a symbol. Symbols are a representation of an item through an abstract concept. Surprisingly, a Union Stockyard could also be a symbol; the fictional Packingtown reveals several attributes about the real life Packingtown in the course of The Jungle. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, Sinclair uses Packingtown to symbolize the corrupt government, the working class, and the condition of the United States.

What if the book, The Jungle wasn’t published and was delayed for another 0-25 years? How much would it affect our lives today? Well for starters, the results are not going to be good because the immigration's life wouldn’t have been so lenient and that could lead to the possibility of riots demanding change.The book the Jungle was one of the things that would help motivate change to the Chicago meatpacking industry and other food companies and without that, many people were potentially in danger from food poisoning or other harmful effects from unclean food produced by shady meat companies. The hard life of an immigrant trying to earn a living wouldn’t change and not as much people would be encouraged to make a change towards how