A well-discussed debate among today’s economy is the issues concerning immigrants and their yearning desire to become American citizens. As displayed in The Jungle, a rather perturbing novel about the trials and ruthless temptations early America presents to a Lithuanian family, adjusting to new surrounding and a new way of life is quite difficult. To make matters worse, language barriers and lack of domestic knowledge only seems to entice starvation and poverty among newly acquired citizens, who simply wish to change their social and economic lives to better themselves and their families. Such is the case of Jurgis Rudkus and his extended family, consisting of cousins, in-laws, and their multitude of children. Natives to the country of Lithuania, Jurgis and his family decide that, after Jurgis and his love, Ona, marry, they will move to Chicago to find work in order to support their family. Soon after arriving to Chicago, they come across Durham’s, a meatpacking factory located in the slums of Chicago. Many of the family members begin holding jobs at Durham’s, ranging from painting cans, to cleaning meat. Over time, however, Jurgis and his family begin to notice that cleanliness, as well as the workers’ overall health, is often, if not always, overlooked. This, as well as the acts of crooked business leaders, begins to corrupt the family and soon leads them into turmoil. The United States, possibly more than any other country, was not very welcoming during the early 1900s. Foreigners, who were uneducated about America’s customs, were unable to find jobs or prevent swindlers from causing their already insufficient wealth to subside. Because of this, Jurgis and his family’s economic and social lives changed drastically. For insta... ... middle of paper ... ...ool to receive an education. However, being new in America, they were apt to make many mistakes, which in some cases proved deadly. In all, their experiences helped them to develop knowledge of their new homeland. They also helped them to make better decisions and better the future for their family. To be concise, Jurgis and his family faced various challenges in America. As a result, their lives changed, for better or for worse. They were inexperienced, and therefore made many mistakes, which made their life in Chicago very worrisome. However, their ideology and strong belief in determination and hard work kept them alive. In a land swarming with predators, this family of delicate prey found their place and made the best of it, despite the fact that America, a somewhat disarranged and hazardous jungle, was not the wholesome promise-land they had predicted it to be.
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
When Jurgis and his family arrived in Chicago they thought that they would find life a lot easier. T...
Illegal immigration has been an issue in this country since its founding. However, in recent years, more and more people are deciding that the conditions in their native countries are too dangerous and impossible to overcome, so they decide to take on the journey to try and enter the United States, “the land of opportunity”, without the proper documentation. In the novel Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario, we see first hand the expedition many of these people take in order to fulfill their dreams of helping the families they leave behind. Many of these people, like Lourdes and Enrique, come thinking that the “American Dream” will be easily obtained through hard work. Unfortunately, times have changed, and this promise of riches is no longer the norm. Those undocumented immigrants that are lucky enough to make it to the United States are faced with a harsh hit of reality when they realize that the perception they had build of America, with an abundance of jobs, is actually flooded by poverty and an unsteady job market.
The villainy effect Jurgis has on this novel enhances it in means of showing how so many men in this time period survived. In the beginning he wanted everything for his family, and by the end he cared only for himself. He gained an exclusive temper, living his life like a yo-yo having high times and low times. It really was survival for the fittest and if you were not fit enough you would not survive. Jurgis was a not a villain per say, but he lived a villainous lifestyle in the way he was beaten down by so many obstacles that were thrown at him.
He shows us a happy family that is destroyed by the turmoil of capitalism in early 20th century Chicago, although it is still something that runs rampant in our society today. In the book, Jurgis gets a job where he works at a packing house and the conditions are horrible. The people who own the packing house are deceitful and unfair, and when Jurgis gets hurt at work his employer shows no sympathy. He struggles to find another job where he can get paid well, and when he gets put in jail he struggles even more. He finds that his family is falling apart and the young children are having to work to support the family. At one point a character literally gets eaten by rats due to bad working conditions. Another theme is corruption. In the beginning of the book Jurgis is a hardworking family man, but by the end he is a stealing thief. It is apparent that living in a place where police are out for themselves and salesmen lie for their own profit, can change you as a person. Jurgis gets so obsessed with money that he beat a child to make him go to work, when he knew that in the freezing winter the child might get frostbite (which he eventually did). Another theme is about society and class in early 20th century Chicago. Jurgis' family comes to America because they think that if they come to America and work hard, then they will get money and succeed. It is as if they think that
A while later Jurgis and his family were amazed with the idea of buying a house. Jokuba suggested them to rent a space in a boarding house but the place was very filthy without any accommodations. Rooms were crowed of immigrant families like Jurgis. The space was too small that they could only have a stove and a few mattresses on the floor. Unfortunately, this family was falsely deceived like others immigrants in their arrival. They had much desire to achieve the American Dream that they rushed on things and did not get informed correctly. This idea of becoming home owners without enough resources sounded very superficial. “Their good luck, they felt, had given them the right to think about a home… (Sinclair 33).” They were a large family and the place they got was not quite comfortable for them. These reasons were not sufficient for them to rush and spend the money they brought from Lithuania. They were new comers in this neighborhood and they did not know the language to understand the advantages and disadvantages of buying a house. In Lithuania, they lost their home and they decided to adventure to American instead. The decision to leave Lithuania was wrong and very hasty of this family. In their country they lost almost everything but they still had each other. They came to America seeking for a dream that later turned into a nightmare. Their mistake was taking a risk without conceiving the idea of
The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of two types of ‘families’ in that the Joads are a factual one and the body of migrant workers as the other. The Joads are actual blood together, but their loyalty to one another is the true essence of their family-hood. The Joads stand as ideal figures in their refusal to be broken by the circumstances against them. Each character undergoes tremendous heartache and burden, yet they stay true to their plans and never give up. While the Joad family is moving from Oklahoma to California, Ma Joad holds the family together because her belief that a broken-family will not be able to accomplish their mammoth task. This is displayed by her not allowing the two cars to split and arrive at California at different times when one of the cars breaks down as they are leaving Oklahoma. Pa Joad is a hardworking man who is uplifted from his normal way of life and forced to account for his family n...
The life of Jurgis and his family shows in many ways how much of a struggle it was to fulfill the "American Dream." There were many, many immigrant families that flocked over to America, and the first thing they did was try and find jobs; only, it wa...
Many people emigrated from Europe to the United States in hope for a new and better life. Through their journeys they had to make several adjustments in order to adapt to the new land they were planning on calling home. Many things probably seemed strange to these people such as the mannerisms they saw, services that were offered in their new life, and barriers they now had to deal with. These new features of life helped to shape this country and the people who established it. Each of the stories explored in this paper show a variety of the type of adjustments being made by the new Americans.
A more corrupted version of today’s capitalism also expanded the horrors that awaited immigrants. The capitalist forces of America worked against the immigrant belief. Capitalism in the early 20th century was a lie that brought in cheap labor through hopes and dreams. Immigrants, instead of obtaining a decent life, enter a life of cruelty in which they become a means of production in order to grow the wealth of an elite class. Burdened by the immoral capitalists, Jurgis is quickly transformed from his optimist self into a socialist. Jurgis’s battle with capitalism is prevalent in the pages of The Jungle, emptying the belief of the optimistic life in America that was seemingly in his grasp at first. A prime of example of how the clutches of capitalism can be seen is when Jurgis is sent to a jail because he assaults his wife’s attacker, Phil Connor (citation). The jail is described as a vile, foul place. Even though the conditions of the jail were terrible, the things necessary for survival; food and shelter were easily provided. Thus, another mockery in the “American Dream” lies in the fact that a criminal is protected and fed by the law, yet a moral hard-working family is left to scrounge for scraps. His family finds themselves in a worst predicament once the corrupt capitalist, Phil Conner, fires Ona. Along with Ona’s loss, the
Constant repetition of subject matter may be well suited for something later tested on to great extent, but in a consecutive slew of papers over the course of a month or so is counterproductive. Looking past that irritant, delving into the world of American society and customs proved to be a fabulous departure from the expected analysis piece of informational writing. It is apparent that, through the numerous trials our country has endured, something as fundamental like the American Dream can lose a definitive meaning. Consequently, the American dream of today regards life with a tepid, watchful eye. Contemporary American society has shown that fluctuations in business, schooling, and culture must be expected and braced for like a regular natural disaster. With an in-depth comparison of The Testing lifestyle and the United States in the categories of employment, education, and energy (health) care, it was proven that living in the modern U.S. regarding those categories is as dangerous as living in a post apocalyptic, manic world. Conclusively, it was enjoyable to make the plausible analogies between real life and the story: referring to government deception and academy consternation. This lighthearted observational piece has truly made it clear how blessed Americans are, even with our struggles. And so, to all of those hopeful immigrants far, far, away, I wish you luck in your travels to the best nation on
Derrick, Scott. “What A Beating Feels Like: Authorship, Dissolution, and Masculinity in Sinclair's The Jungle.” Studies in American Fiction, vol. 23, no. 1, 1995, pp. 85–100., doi:10.1353/saf.1995.0007.
During the Gilded age, the United States used its growing industrial development and began to appear as a profitable powerhouse. During this time America had a sufficient economic capital to endure such hasty industrialization; however it was a different story when it came to labor. The solution to this problem was European immigration. Since many European immigrants came to America looking for work opportunities, they unintentionally provided an alternative of cheap labor for American factories and businesses. These Europeans were thrilled to come to the United States. They saw America as a land of opportunity, and a chance to live the "American Dream". Upon arrival to this dreamland of opportunity, the United State's capitalistic society ruined many ambitions of said immigrants and embedded them into a harsh routine that controlled each aspect of their lives. In Upton Sinclair’s story The Jungle we are introduced to Jurgis Rudkus and his family, they are poor Lithuanian immigrants who came to America in search of an easier life, only to end up working in Packingtown also known as the meatpacking plants of Chicago. To some readers Jurgis and his family face massive hardships such as cruel and hazardous working conditions, poverty and famine, corrupt businessmen who take their money and crooked politicians who take advantage of them. To other readers, Jurgis and his family made rash and senseless decisions on their own. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle accentuates the manipulation of many immigrants as they attempt to achieve the unachievable "American Dream".
The lives of the working class and immigrants in the late 1900's, which The Jungle is set in, is described with hardship because they worked day and night for the bare minimum. This sparked many philosophies and people to support how workers are treated and how much they earn. The most affected by this were the immigrants that didn't know how to speak english at all. They were exploited and easily tricked out of their valuables and sometimes became homeless. The hardships of the immigrants and working class in The Jungle portray the difficulty of people of the time.
In essence, capitalism and corruption both play a central role in addressing the theme of The Jungle is expressed through capitalism and corruption. These factors hinder the lives of immigrants Jurgis Rudkas, Teta Elzbieta Lukoszaite, and Ona Lukoszaite as they migrate from Lithuania to Chicago in hopes of finding the perfect American Dream. They do this not just for themselves, but also for the rest of their family members who are working together to achieve the same goal. In doing so, they face a number of struggles that either sets them back The American Dream is characterized by both freedom and the opportunity for prosperity, much of which Jurgis, Teta, and Ona struggled to obtain. Many migrate with hopes of reaching such goals, but not all find it with the overwhelming amount of capitalism and corruption in the way.