Capitalism Exposed In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Upton Sinclair’s classic novel titled The Jungle is an informative yet horrifying look into a Lithuanian immigrant family’s lives as they chase the American dream in early twentieth century Chicago. In his book Sinclair reveals the negative consequences of capitalism as he shows the massive differences in quality of life between those of the struggling working class and those of the elite upper class – and it seems as though the best way to climb the social and economic ranks is through dishonest means, particularly focusing on the immensely corrupt meat packing industry. While the author does not offer any first person narrative, his precise vocabulary and talent for communicating ideas and evoking emotion through clever imagery suggests

that he is a well educated and experienced writer. His socialist stance becomes more and more evident as the story progresses, but his story of Jurgis Rudkus, the novel’s protagonist, is much too realistic and evident of the brutality of working in an early 1900’s meat packing factory to just be discounted as propaganda.
The grim tone of Sinclair’s novel is set right away, as the new immigrants from Lithuania - Jurgis, his wife Ona, his father Dede Antanas, Ona’s cousin Marija, Ona’s Aunt Teta, Teta’s children and the rest of the family are cheated as soon as they arrive in Chicago to start their new life. Jurgis and Ona’s wedding celebration, called a veselija, proves to be a massive financial strain as guests are numerous and many eat and drink with contributing to the cost of the evening as they are supposed to, showing that the traditions of the old country may not be as realistic to uphold in their new cutthroat urban settings. If that wasn’t enough, the bill was over inflated by the saloon owner, with complete disregard to the sanctity of the event as he served a much poorer quality of alcohol than what was agreed upon in that it tasted like horrible poison (18). Jurgis and his family would find themselves cheated again soon after that when trying purchase a house that turned out to be much less appealing than the one they first saw in an add, but thanks to a smooth talking, manipulative agent, Ona ends up signing the contract for the house despite not being able to understand its contents and the hidden fees and stipulations within. Jurgis is determined not to be broken, however, and tells Ona “I will earn money - I will work harder”, as he does every time they are faced with adversity throughout the story. The author uses this quote to show the naïve beliefs that immigrants such as Jurgis had when coming to America; that in the land of opportunity one may shape his future by the effort he puts forth, even though the sad reality is that such effort would only be exploited by those in positions of power. As soon as a person was too old or weak to be productive in the workplace they would be fired without compensation so that another eager worker could take their place. Jurgis’s father Dede Antanas would a prime example of this, as he had to search for weeks to find meager employment. He finally achieves this by allowing himself to be a victim of grafting, a practice of paying someone a percentage of your wages for the opportunity to do their job. In Dede’s case, he has to give up an entire third of his pay.
Sinclair pulls no punches during his attack on the deplorable conditions of factory work by not only describing the numerous physical dangers, but also the long term effects of constant social injustices that the poor working immigrants face as they go from whole-heartedly optimistic to being completely broken in mind, body, and spirit.

Upon first achieving employment, Jurgis is sure that his hard work will be rewarded, and when others tell him of the many others who struggle to find decent work he responds that these men are “Broken-down tramps and good-for-nothings, fellows who have spent all their money drinking, and want to get more for it” (24). Little does he know, Jurgis will become one of these broken men in time, and it’s by no lack of will or hard work on his part, but by the injustice of an unregulated, greed-inspired system that will shape his and his family’s future. Sinclair’s protagonist had yet to endure working in freezing conditions without proper winter attire, working sixteen hour workdays amidst the presence of animals’ bloody deaths, the knowledge of spoiled meat being delivered to the masses, missing three months of work (and therefore three months of pay) due to a badly sprained ankle, the death of his father from being overworked, the constant illness of his newborn son, and most critically, having to learn that his wife was raped by her boss and ordered to keep quiet if she didn’t want her family to lose their jobs. The drama between Ona and

Jurgis in Chapter 15 as she explains to her husband where she has been and what happened to her evokes strong feelings empathy for the helpless couple. Sinclair uses this terrible event to show just how much power the tyrannical bosses had over their workers; not even something as sacred as marriage was respected by men whose greed and lust could never be sated. When Jurgis finally got a hold of the man who raped his beloved wife, the man whose “…whole presence reeked of the crime he had committed; the touch of his body was madness to him - it set every nerve of him a-tremble, it aroused all the demon in his soul” (174). Jurgis could not help but viciously assaulting the man, and of course was promptly arrested for it. When it came to court, Ona’s attacker had denied raping her, and because of his important stature he would win favor of the judge and Jurgis would be jailed for assault.
The second half of Upton Sinclair’s story begins with Jurgis being released from prison only to find that his wife has gone into premature labor, and holding true to the nonstop grief and despair of their American dream-turned-nightmare, Ona and the baby both die.

To complete the nightmare, Jurgis’s beloved young son would die in a freak accident some months later, leaving Jurgis completely defeated. After leaving Packingtown and spending some time as a tramp in the countryside, Jurgis returns to Chicago and eventually takes up a more lucrative life of crime, again illustrating the author’s point that traits such as greed and dishonesty are needed for one to thrive in the capitalist system, or perhaps said system is responsible for producing those traits. After Jurgis goes to jail once more for again attacking Ona’s rapist, who has barred him from getting any work in Packingtown, Jurgis sets out for legitimate work again, finding work in a hotel so he can once again help support Ona’s Aunt Teta and her family. It is at this point that Sinclair uses Jurgis’s newfound devotion to socialism to more openly promote his anti-capitalist agenda. Jurgis would join with other socialists to help expose the horrors of the meat industry, as it was “…a monster devouring with a thousand mouths, trampling with a thousand hoofs; it was the Great Butcher – it was the spirit of Capitalism made flesh.”

(361).
While Upton Sinclair masterfully uses imagery and detail to help the reader understand what hardships an immigrant family might face when chasing the American dream in the early 20th century, The Jungle is not so much a leisurely and enjoyable read as it is a condemnation of capitalism and an exposal of the atrocities of factory life in the meat packing industry specifically. It is no wonder that the book was not readily published by companies at the time due to its strong socialist values, but it is historically significant because it brought the need for industry reform to the public’s attention.