Comparing The American Dream And Capitalism In The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

The American Dream and Capitalism are two principles that attracted millions of immigrants to the United States; however, these ideas about the standard of living were not true for many immigrants living in America in the early 1900s. The structure of capitalism in American Society allowed industrialists to take advantage of the labor force and perpetuate the poor distribution of wealth in America. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair exposes the poor conditions for millions of immigrants living in America and demonstrates that there is a need for socialism. Sinclair is able to illustrate the political and corporate corruption at the time through the life of Jurgis, a Lithuanian immigrant who faces a lot of adversity and hardship. The environment that

capitalism created caused immigrants to either assimilate to the corrupt political and corporate structures or continue to live under “wage slavery”(Sinclair 268). Sinclair illustrates that socialism is a necessity in order for the working class to live better lives in America.
There are many example of political corruption that Jurgis comes across during the Industrial Age.

After discovering the union, Jurgis wants to learn English, so that he can participate and understand the union meetings he was attending. Jurgis attends school to learn English, but is approached by a nightman who asks him if he is interested in becoming a citizen and if he would be open to voting for a certain politician in exchange for two dollars. Jurgis accepts the offer and becomes part of the political corruption. Voting is one of your basic rights as an American, yet Jurgis’ right to vote freely is immediately stripped from the nightman. Sinclair describes the political system when he says, “The officials who ruled it, and got all the graft, had to be elected first; and so there were two rival set of grafters, known as political parties, and the one got the office which bought the most votes.” (Sinclair 77). The corrupt political parties is a perfect example of how wealthy politicians took advantage of the desperate situation that many immigrants were in. Immigrants were forced to vote in politicians that were causing their poor living conditions, which allowed Grafters to maintain control of immigrants and to strip immigrants of one of their basic

rights.
Jurgis comes across political corruption again after meeting Jack Duane in prison. Jurgis is introduced to Mike Scully, who allows Jurgis to take part in the vote-buying business. Jurgis’ job is to join a union and sway the union to vote for Doyle, Mike Scully’s republican nominee. Jurgis is successful and earns three hundred dollars for causing the union to vote for Doyle. Sinclair best describes the political corruption at the time when he says:
And so Jurgis got a glimpse of the high-class criminal world of Chicago. The city, which was owned by an oligarchy of business men, being nominally ruled by the people, a huge army of graft was necessary for the purpose of effecting the transfer of power (Sinclair, 216)
Sinclair’s comparison of the political party to an army of graft demonstrates the wide spread political corruption at the time. Despite being an immigrant, Jurgis was contributing to the political corruption, while still being a victim of capitalism and the system. The political corruption that was conducted, helped support the economic and corporate corruption that damaged the lives of many immigrants.
There are many examples of economic and corporate corruption during the Industrial Age. Jurgis encounters corporate corruption when he is cheated by the saloon-keeper after his wedding. The saloon-keeper’s corrupt practices are best described when Sinclair says:
“By him you were sure to be cheated unmercifully, and that even though you thought yourself the dearest of the hundreds of friends he had. He would begin to serve your guests out of a keg that was half full, and finish with one that was half empty, and then you would be charged for two kegs of beer” (Sinclair 14).

The saloon-keeper’s methods are a perfect example of how capitalism encouraged self interest over social interest. Despite the significance of an event like a wedding, the saloon-keeper is insensitive to Jurgis’ financial situation. Jurgis is not able to object to the outrageous prices of the saloon-keeper because of the saloon-keeper’s connection “with all the big politics men in the district”(Sinclair 14). Jurgis’ encounter with the saloon-keeper is a perfect example of how politics and corporate corruption are intertwined.
Another example of the corrupt the economic system that capitalism created was when Jurgis tries to buy a house for his family.

Jurgis is comfortable with the real estate agent because of his ability to communicate in his own language; however, the real estate agent tricks Jurgis into believing he can pay the necessary expenses to acquire the house. Jurgis learns from Grandmother Majauszkiene that “since it had been built, no less than four families that their informant could name had tried to buy it [the house] and failed.” (Sinclair 56). The owner of the house knew that Jurgis was not going to be able to pay the full amount for the house, causing Jurgis to lose the payments he made on the house. Sinclair demonstrates how many attempts to complete ordinary tasks, such as buying a house, are hindered by capitalism and political

corruption.
Jurgis faces significant corruption when dealing with his wedding and the real estate system; however, the most pressing issue he and other immigrants face is the poor working conditions in the workplace. Jurgis encounters harsh working conditions for majority of the jobs he has. He often works in environments where it is extremely unsanitary. Many of the workers had to make “pepsin from the stomachs of the pigs, and albumen from the blood, and violin strings from the ill-smelling entrails.”(Sinclair 34). Sinclair’s description of the tasks that were performed illustrates the low quality jobs that many immigrants had. Capitalism and corporate corruption force immigrants to take these terrible jobs out of desperation. Jurgis later joins the socialist movement, which focuses on the poor working conditions and hopes to improve them dramatically through the formation of labor unions.
Before joining the socialist movement, Jurgis also endures poor working conditions when working for the fertilizer mill. Sinclair describes workers in the fertilizer mill as people:
“in suffocating cellars where daylight never came and you might see men and women and children bending over whirling machines and sawing bits of bone into all sorts of shapes, breathing their lungs of the fine dust, and doomed to die, everyone of them, with a certain definite time (Sinclair 105).
The imagery that Sinclair uses helps readers understand the major health concerns that workers faced, while working in the cellars of a fertilizer mill. It also draws attention to the need for improved working conditions in many work environments, not just in the fertilizer mill.
Jurgis was not the only character that endured harsh working conditions. Marija faced similar conditions and in some cases worse than Jurgis. Marija loses her initial job painting labels on cans because she is outraged that she was “cheated out of her pay for three hundred cans.”(Sinclair 85). As a result of her complaints, Marija lost her job and only had twenty-five dollars left. Marija has a hard time finding a job and out of desperation she becomes a prostitute. Marija tells Jurgis about her addiction to morphine and her decision to become a prostitute. She explains why none of the girls can save money when she says, “the way they keep the girls – they let them run up debts, so they can’t get away.”(Sinclair 253) This serves as another example of how working conditions were poor and how capitalism drove women to take up terrible jobs such as prostitution.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair exposes the dynamic that capitalism created, which favored industrialist over workers and allowed industrialists the ultimate control the government, politics and the law. Through Jurgis we can see the harm that capitalism has caused the million of immigrants during the Industrial age. Jurgis transforms from a eager and ambitious immigrant believed in the American Dream, into a hardened, yet optimistic socialist who believes that “common ownership and democratic management of the means of producing the necessities of life.” As of right now, workers are choosing between wage slavery or taking part in the corruption, but Jurgis believes that workers shouldn’t have to choose, but should choose socialism.