Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil is one of his more socialist attacks on corporate power, labor suppression, government corruption and corporate control of war, universities, and Hollywood. The novel was written during the Harding administration Teapot Dome Scandal set in World War I and 1920s era, in the early California oil fields. In Oil, Sinclair dramatizes the Oil boom years through perspective of Bunny Ross the son of a rich oil entrepreneur. Bunny’s idolizes his father J. Arnold Ross early in the novel, with his rags to riches story going from being a former mule driver who got lucky and made fortune in California oil. Dad wants to his son to become well educated on the oil business, which gives insight to readers about oil drilling in the …show more content…
1920’s. Bunny though is not interested in continuing dad’s legacy especially after learn the secrets and strategies of the business that including bribing officials and manipulating people for their land. Bunny meets Paul Watkins whose dad’s a poor Christian father that also wants him to following his footsteps but Paul already decided he would take the path as a young radical and union organizer and become an enemy to capitol corporations like Bunny’s father. Paul exposes Bunny several times to the views of Marx, Huxley, and Herbert Spencer especially after coming back from World War I, which he returns, even more radicalized and committed to communist. Throughout the novel Bunny goes back and forth between Dad and Paul’s views until the end of the book when he converts to a life of social activism, and founding a labor college with his inheritance. The novel really focuses on the conflict between Dad want his son to become a big oil businessman like himself and Bunny who has developed a conscience who feels for the small folks who had dreams of making money get nothing while Dad bribes people to rich.
The novel does a great job of bringing in the reader and showing them Dad’s rags to riches story and Bunny’s views shifting and the conflicts that arise between them. Dad isn’t the stereotypical oil man but a hardworking sentimentalist, who consistently argues with Bunny about politics and him becoming a oil man but then breaking down to give money to get Bunny’s friends out of …show more content…
jail. You see Bunny’s views shift when he sides with oil workers in two strikes, attempts to make a left-wing newspaper while in college, and gets in fights between Socialists and Communists.
But you also see him still enjoying the lifestyle of being the son of a wealthy oil man by reading about high class parties where young women are flirting with him, then back to being apart of the socialist with his friend Rachel Menzies and her family who are garment workers. Sinclair loves to poke fun at different targets and a couple in this book has to do with religion and Hollywood. Paul has a younger brother named Eli who has a spiritual calling and rises to fame as an evangelist known as “The Messenger of the Second Coming.” One story about Eli was when he disappeared and people thought he had drowned in the ocean but then he reappears weeks later claiming it as a miracle. Bunny soon learns the truth was cause Eli was having a romantic affair that could ruin his reputation as a preacher. When learn that Eli, in fact is a womanizer, hypocrite, and
liar. Sinclair also pokes fun at Hollywood through Bunny’s affair with actress Vee Tracy who is actually portrayed as a prostitute since she is paid by Dad and his partner Vernon Roscoe to keep Bunny distracted during the oil strikes. Tracy marries a Romanian price whose regime is kept in power by anticommunist diplomats and American oilmen, bringing in various strings from the novel. Sinclair also scrutinizes the press because they refuse to print stories about America’s involvement in the Russian revolution or investigate the causes of industry strikes. Instead the strikes are worded as being dangerous and hateful against America. Even though Oil! is considered fiction it touches on very realistic issues of that time and brings them to light. Oil! is a lively, satirical account of capitalist greed, religious fervor, and socialist struggles. In 2007 Hollywood made a movie called “There Will Be Blood” which is very loosely based on the book. If Sinclair was still alive today I think he would have some great words for Hollywood. This was a great book and I would recommend it along with many of Sinclair’s other pieces of work. If you would like to learn about the oil boom in California in the 1920’s along with all the corruption around it, then this book would be a great for you.
It is a magazine article in McClure’s Magazine, and an excerpt from the book, The History of the Standard Oil Company.
The Gilded Age refers to a period in which things were fraudulent and deceitful; the surface was clinquant while underneath that lustrous coat laid corruption. During the Gilded Age companies recruited to corrupt methods to further increase profits, leading to an increase in power, rapid economic prosperity, and domination of industries, leading to monopolistic corporations. As a result, antitrust laws to regulate business began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th century known as the Progressive Era. Among these companies was Standard Oil, which was founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller; in 1880, Standard Oil was responsible for refining 90 percent of America’s oil and between 1880-1910, dominating the oil industry (Marshall). The lack of intervention from the government and regulations impeding monopolistic practices allowed Standard Oil to
Fifth Edition Vol 2, New York: Longman, 1999. Hidey, Ralph W. and Muriel E. "History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), Vol. 1" Pioneering in Big Business" " Taking Sides Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in American History" eds.
Capitalism underwent a severe attack at the hands of Upton Sinclair in this novel. By showing the misery that capitalism brought the immigrants through working conditions, living conditions, social conditions, and the overall impossibility to thrive in this new world, Sinclair opened the door for what he believed was the solution: socialism. With the details of the meatpacking industry, the government investigated and the public cried out in disgust and anger. The novel was responsible for the passage of The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. With the impact that Sinclair must have known this book would have, it is interesting that he also apparently tried to make it fuction as propaganda against capitalism and pro-socialism.
The origins of the teapot dome scandal began in the early 1900’s when the navy shifted from coal-burning ship engines to oil early in the twentieth century. This shift prompted an increase in the demand for oil by the navy and the country in general and a battle ensued between conservationists and the navy against oil interests. Conservationists believed “petroleum lands, forest lands, and other resources must be treated on a specialized basis” and
This movie is one that I have always enjoyed and watching it in class gave me a new appreciation for it. The storybook, introduced into the movie by the grandfather, was the first motif that caught my eye. At first you don’t think much about it but it’s a great representation of so many different things. First off, the boy’s reaction to unwrapping the book is one shared by so many kids in today’s society. A book is seen as somewhat of a chore rather than an indulgence or hobby. The grandfather sets the scene to transition into the actual story with the book. Starting the first scene in the boy’s bedroom gives the movie a sense of realism and one that is relatable. The book gave the movie a whole new dimension that I appreciate and commend the directors and authors for creating. The book also represents tradition in their family. It was read to several generations and symbolizes the love that the fathers and grandfathers have for their children. It shows great patience and the desire to spend time with a loved one to read them a book. That is a gift that is slowly being lost as time g...
After the Second World War, the world was more interesting in oil than ever before. The conflict itself made the countries of the world realize that oil was a serious factor in the quest for power. From this point in history, oil was considered the driving force behind a successful economy and therefore attaining power. Therefore the quest for oil heightened during and after World War II. In the effort to acquire more oil, many countries began to seek out additional locations to drill and this drove the United States to the Middle East. In late 1943 a man named DeGolyer who was a geologist went on a mission to Saudi Arabia to survey the possibility for oil. His mission there concluded that “the oil in this region is the greatest single prize in all history”. With such a conclusion it is not surprising that the United States began extremely concerned with the oil concessions there.
On January 10th 1901 the discovery of oil at Spindletop would lead to the greatest economy boom the world has ever encountered. The amount of oil that would be discovered across Texas would be more than enough to power America through the next several decades. The effects of having oil would completely change Texas culture, lifestyle, and business tremendously. In the book of Oil In Texas, will prove that America would change completely from agriculture nation to an industrial nation after the discovery of oil in Texas.
Discuss how Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tensions and historical processes at hand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
From respectable authorities on the subject, and the 1906 Food and Drugs Act itself, gave paticual understanding of the events effecting that time period, a understanding of certain points in the novel “The Jungle”, and how the government went about solving the nation’s going problem, has lead myself to agree that Upton Sinclairs’s
Altogether, this is a book to be read thoughtfully and more than once. It is about an unusually sensitive and intelligent boy; but, then, are not all boys unusual and worthy of understanding? If they are bewildered at the complexity of modern life, unsure of themselves, shocked by the spectacle of perversity and evil around them - are not adults equally shocked by the knowledge that even children cannot escape this contact and awareness? & nbsp;
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair exemplifies a muckraking style in its often gory depictions of life in a meat packing factory, Sinclair writes of how the meat packing industry exploits its workers, many of whom are uneducated and poor in the same way a capitalist government exploits it's working class. Sinclair uses Symbolism in terms of physical objects, Objects that serve a metaphorical purpose, and oppressive tone, to persuade the reader that Capitalism leads to the declination and corruption of America and that the only way to remedy this is socialistic government.
Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire, and he was the true epitome of capitalism. Rockefeller was your typical rags-to-riches businessman, and at the turn of the twentieth century, while everyone else in the working class was earning ten dollars max every week, Rockefeller was earning millions. There has been much discussion as to whether Rockefeller’s success was due to being a “robber baron”, or as a “captain of industry”. By definition, a robber baron was an industrialist who exploited others in order to achieve personal wealth, however, Rockefeller’s effect on the economy and the lives of American citizens has been one of much impact, and deserves recognition. He introduced un-seen techniques that greatly modified the oil industry. During the mid-nineteenth century, there was a high demand for kerosene. In the refining process from transforming crude oil to kerosene, many wastes were produced. While others deemed the waste useless, Rockefeller turned it into income by selling them. He turned those wastes into objects that would be useful elsewhere, and in return, he amassed a large amount of wealth. He sold so much “waste” that railroad companies were desperate to be a part of his company. However, Rockefeller demanded rebates, or discounted rates, from the railroad companies, when they asked to be involved with his business. By doing so, Rockefeller was able to lower the price of oil to his customers, and pay low wages to his workers. Using these methods,
Many impoverished people immigrated to America in hopes of achieving the American Dream but instead were faced with dangerous working conditions while the factory and corporation owners increased their wealth and profit by exploiting this cheap means of labor. Upton Sinclair succeeded to show the nature of the wage slavery occurring in America in the beginning of the twentieth century. People felt distressed and unimportant in the community because they were being used by the wealthy to generate capital leading the industry for the future success and efficacy in the market. Upton Sinclair was an American journalist who incorporated his personal research of the meatpacking industry conditions and people’s life, as well as the structure of the present business into the novel under analysis. Thus, real facts and data were incorporated into this literary work, which helps the audience to feel involved in the work and understand the overall atmosphe...
finding new ways to drill for oil and also refine it more efficiently to ensure that