During the industrial revolution, many immigrants migrated to big cities in America for the promise of a better life. Unfortunately, this “promise” was a lie. Many immigrants were exploited by the Americans during the 19th century. In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair demonstrates how immigrants were exploited in their wages. Another reason would be their work condition, and also laws and policies. In the book, we see that many of the unwanted men looking for a job. And many of the unwanted didn’t get a job unless they paid the company to work. Like Dede Antanas had to pay a man so he would be able to work. Dede Antanas agrees to pay a man part of his wages to find him a job. “approached by a man […] he were willing to pay one-third of his wages” (Sinclair 49). Dede Antanas found this man in the stockyards, and the man offered him a job if only if Dede Antanas would pay him part of his wage. Dede Antanas was the most excited and eager man to get to his job, but he didn’t know what he was going to faced and what it would cause him. Many immigrants who were uneducated could not find a decent …show more content…
For that reason, a lot of immigrants would get scammed or robbed. For example, Jurgis and the family got defrauded when they tried to “buy” the house, but they didn’t know the policies and fees they had to face. The agent who sold the house to Jurgis and the family assumed that they knew all the payments and policies. With the family not knowing all the requirements they had to do for the house they got swindled. “make money by swindling poor people […] the family had paid fifteen hundred dollars […] they used the very flimsiest and cheapest material” (Sinclair 55). The people who build the house knew that the people “buying” the house would not be able to pay all the expenses that were required. Unfortunately, these poor people would spend all their money and would not get anything in
... many immigrants faced discrimination, thus leaving them no choice but to live in the slums of some areas and try fight their way up to success.
In the late nineteenth century, many European immigrants traveled to the United States in search of a better life and good fortune. The unskilled industries of the Eastern United States eagerly employed these men who were willing to work long hours for low wages just to earn their food and board. Among the most heavily recruiting industries were the railroads and the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania. Particularly in the steel mills, the working conditions for these immigrants were very dangerous. Many men lost their lives to these giant steel-making machines. The immigrants suffered the most and also worked the most hours for the least amount of money. Living conditions were also poor, and often these immigrants would barely have enough money and time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep. There was also a continuous struggle between the workers and the owners of the mills, the capitalists. The capitalists were a very small, elite group of rich men who held most of the wealth in their industries. Strikes broke out often, some ending in violence and death. Many workers had no political freedom or even a voice in the company that employed them. However, through all of these hardships, the immigrants continued their struggle for a better life.
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.
As this exquisite author that goes by the name of Upton Sinclair, he explains this horrid truth on what the immigrants and people at that time had to deal with for example, the slavery and the unsanitary conditions that took place in the meatpacking industry. As the audience of this piece of literature, it truly has us understand the truth what the immigrants went through at the time due to the fact, that they came to the United States with little or no money at all, in hope of making a better life for their families and themselves.
Within the first few pages of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, readers are plunged into the nightmarish conditions that workers are forced to endure in Packingtown. People were quite literally worked to death with meager compensation and no rights. Sinclair even states that, “All this was about as near to hell as a man would care to get…” (78). For the conditions were deplorable. Long hours with no compensation were expected, zero consideration was given to the safety of the workers, and such basics as heating and cooling were completely disregarded. As seen on page 72, “On the killing-floor you might easily freeze, if the gang for any reason had to stop for a time. You were apt to be covered in blood, and it would freeze solid; if you leaned
Upton Sinclair was the most famous of the American “muckraker” journalists. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20, 1878. Although his family was poor, Sinclair was able to earn money as a writer from a very early age, and was able to save enough money to go to college. He attended the city college of New York and graduated from there with a B.A. degree. Soon after he went to Columbia University to graduate school. It was there that he began writing full-length novels with important social themes. His novels showed that he was concerned with the conditions of working people. During the early part of the twentieth century businesses had very little to restrain them and working class unions were not nearly as common as they are today. Some of the biggest abuses of labor conditions took place in big cities such as New York and Chicago. It was in the meatpacking district of Chicago that Sinclair found the setting of the book that would bring him to fame. He first won recognition by the jungle in 1906. This book is a powerful realistic study of social conditions in the stockyards and packing plants of Chicago. It aided in the passing of pure food laws.
During the early 20th century, life for immigrants was very tough. Those days you had corrupted government officials and horrible living conditions. The only word that comes to mind when thinking about this time period is filthy. Not only were the living spaces filthy but so were the people. For example, the first time the readers witness this is when Jurgis Rudkus and his family come to the United States through Ellis Island. There he get scammed by an imposter; in Upton Sinclair’s words, “...there was an agent who helped them, but he proved a scoundrel, and got them into a trap with some officials, and cost them a good deal of their precious money.” (Sinclair 26). Not only that but they also get put in a hotel room by a fake police officer
The Jungle is a political fiction novel by Upton Sinclair. The story follows the harsh lives of an immigrated Lithuania couple living in the meatpacking district of Chicago. Sinclair’s purpose for writing this novel is to provide insight to the harsh conditions that immigrants face. However, the Muckraker chapter inadvertently directed everyone’s attention to the meat industry. While evaluating Chapter IX of The Jungle, it is evident that Sinclair’s most prominent purpose for writing this novel is to raise awareness for the situations immigrants to America are exposed to. It is apparent that this novel left an impact on American society due to the raised awareness of immigrant’s treatments and the passing of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act.
The 1906 novel, The Jungle talked about some of Sinclair’s concerns. Worker exploitation was one of his concerns. This novel also showed how companies would sell rancid vermin-infested meat and how it was processed. Most of the workers lived in Packingtown, which were immigrants and their children. Northern and Central Europe immigrants were mainly Protestants, even though numerous Irish and German Catholics moved as well. In the twentieth century, about nine million immigrants came to America. Many immigrants moved to Chicago rather than any city besides New York. The immigrants were attracted by the construction jobs in the downtown area and they would work in huge manufacturing firms.
Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle is a political statement piece that was written to show the conditions of immigrants workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sinclair, through weeks of extensive research, gathered enough information to form a story based on the evidence he had gathered. Although The Jungle is a work of fiction, Sinclair’s novel is still said to be a primary source due the the fact that it was based on research he was doing personally, it was written near the time it was set, and it contains many historical accuracies.
They provided the labor exchange which enable the immigrants to get jobs for their survival, though they were been exploited it was their source of livelihood and they couldn’t complain. The existence of the middle class has fueled the creation of the lower class for exploitation. Candido, America and all the undocumented immigrants struggle to work hard in hope of achieving the luxury of the middle class without knowing the people of higher class stifle the progress of the lower class in order to exploit them to stay relevant. ‘Exploitation: the systematic diversion of the proceeds of the knowledge, creativity and effort of human labor to enrich a propertied elite, so that “the labor of the many [becomes] the wealth of the few” (Marx,
Although the economy during that time was booming, companies wanted costs low and profits high in competitive markets, so wages were kept low with long hours and terrible work conditions for men, women, and children. Upton Sinclair exploited this by writing “The Jungle,” describing the work conditions workers had to face and the filth in the meat packing plants, photography also became a use of documentation showing child laborers and lastly a 1911 garment factory fire in New York City killing 126 workers contributed to exploiting this problem. Jacob Riis wrote about his first-hand experience of the harsh life in the slums; Jane Addams was able to help with this problem by cofounding a settlement house. This started more settlement houses and hull houses to develop to provide a community center for neighbors and citizens. Ida Tarbell described the tactics used by big businesses to eliminate competition and Lincoln Steffens exposed corruption in city governments.
The world consists of economic competition which throws people for a whirlwind. Many however do thrive, yet there are still some with scratched knee’s left to dig through the dumpster. Throughout the modern history of society, it has been a constant struggle for practically everyone. A world popular example of this struggle is Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel, The Jungle. The groundbreaking book takes readers along on a journey into a new world for a family of recent Lithuanian immigrants. The family trekked to America, which in the early twentieth century was said to be the land where any man willing to work hard during the day would make a fair amount of living and could support his family. It happens to be an ideal that every American should be familiar with at least one of the foundations that got the American society to where it is at today. Yet, while telling his story, Upton Sinclair put the reader in a metaphorical war against Capitalism. Sinclair’s disdain against capitalist society is present from cover to cover, shown through the enthusiasm of Jurgis to work, the struggle for workers of Packingtown, and the corruption that was put on “the man” at all levels of society.
The Jungle (by Upton Sinclair) describes the hardships of being an immigrant. Such as, not knowing the language, low pay, and keeping a job.
Furthermore, during the 18th century immigration, there was a minimal amount of jobs for a mass amount of people, so most people worked past set hours in order to retain their jobs. Pauline M. Newman, an employee of the Triangle Factory who at the time of work was only a little girl, proclaims “The day's work was supposed to end at six in the afternoon. But, during most of the year we youngsters worked overtime until 9 p.m. every night except Fridays and Saturdays. No, we did not get additional pay for overtime.” Her description of the way they worked accentuated the the sheer number of hours that they had to work. They had to come in early and leave late, working a total of almost 14 hours everyday, with minimal pay and “a piece of apple pie for supper instead.” It is shown that immigrants at this time lived harsh and almost “meaningless” lives, they overworked themselves for the entire day and barely received enough. If instead these shop owners had not been greedy and looking to maximize their profit, then they would have helped these people and created a much more pleasant and fulfilled