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Literary analysis on the jungle by upton sinclair
Literary analysis on the jungle by upton sinclair
Upton sinclair the jungle essay
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In the novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair reveals a parallel between a lithuanian family and hogs on their way into a slaughter house. Although when Jurgis and his family first arrived in America they believed that they had come into the land of dreams and liberty, they were soon informed of the corrupt society that would eventually become the end of their family. The parallel between the hogs and the main characters can be seen in the character’s purchase of their house, Jurgis’ motto of just working harder, and the saloon’s treatment of the people. Each of these scenarios show the characters being chained up, with no going back, and no way out without losing everything. During his first day on his job at a slaughterhouse, Jurgis observes pigs as they are about to be slaughtered. Sinclair describes the scene as “appalling” with squeals of hogs so loud that it was “perilous to the eardrums” (Sinclair 36). The hogs were lined up on their way to their end, with no way back. As they reached closer and closer to their doom, men would place chains on one leg of each hog. They did not yet …show more content…
As hard as the hogs tried, there was no way out of this. As soon as they had the chain placed upon them, there was no going …show more content…
This is seen in the character’s purchase of their house, Jurgis’ motto of just working harder, and the saloon’s treatment of the people. As the hogs were in the slaughterhouse, a chain was placed on them yanking them up, with no way back. The family signed a deed to a house soon realising that they either had to keep paying more, or lose everything. Saloon’s in the town compelled Jurgis to spend all of his money there, causing him to become addicted with no way out. Throughout his life, Jurgis followed a motto to work harder, just as the hogs while they were marching to their
The novel follows a family of immigrants from Lithuania working in a meatpacking factory, and as the novel progresses, the reader learns of the revolting conditions within the factories. Sinclair’s The Jungle illustrates the concept of Bitzer’s “Rhetorical Situation” and Emerson’s quote quite effectively. For instance, the horrendous safety and health conditions of the packing factories were the exigencies that Upton Sinclair was making clear to the reader. The rhetorical audience that Sinclair aimed to influence with his novel was Congress and the president, as both had to agree in order to establish health and safety bills to better the conditions within factories. Sinclair’s efforts did not go unnoticed as in 1906 both the Meat Inspection Act, and the Pure Food and Drug act were approved by both Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt (Cherny,
His ego was heighten when he found a job during his first day in Packingtown. (Sinclair, “The Jungle”, 23)*. Excited as he was, Jurgis had no knowledge of the work he was going to get involved with. The meat industry at Durham’s are not a pleasant sight, and Jurgis was shocked with the production of the meat industry. His time working there allows him to view the process of meat packaging and distribution; though he can’t understand the error towards the industry’s method of employment and production. The superintendents and higher officials have no interest in the well-being of there employees, and view them as replaceable objects. If an employee was not long fit work; or refused to comply with their regulations: such as “speed up” demands or longer hours, they would immediately get replaced with another person willing to obey. In additions, accidents (though not as frequent) arose having workers injured, or in dreadful occasions, killed. Therefore, these accidents became a valid reason to replace workers without owning up to any ethical consequences. Jurgis was also recruited to work on confidential assignments, such as process and distribution of tainted meat (Sinclair, “The Jungle”, #)*. This allowed Jurgis to witness the corrupt version of an industry. Tainted meat was washed and recruits removed as much spoiled meat as possible. After this task, the recruits
The Jungle, the 1906 exposé of the Chicago meatpacking industry. The novel focuses on an immigrant family and sympathetically and realistically describes their struggles with loan sharks and others who take advantage of their innocence. More importantly, Sinclair graphically describes the brutal working conditions of those who find work in the stockyards. Sinclair's description of the main character's
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, depicts the life of Jurgis Rudkus. He is an immigrant from Lithuania who travels to Chicago with Ona - his soon to be wife - and both their families. They see America as a new start and a new opportunity. They soon find out that in a country built on capitalism there isn't much freedom for the working class and the family is thrown into poverty with little hope of escaping. Poverty and capitalism are two themes that are still very destructive in our society today.
Waste and blood streamed along the floorboards, covering my toes…Piled like fish in a bucket, the men were stacked on three levels—one just above my feet, another by my waist and a third level by my neck…The men couldn’t stand unless they stooped—chained in pairs—in the narrow corridor where I walked. On their rough planks, they had no room to sit. Some were lying on their backs, others on their stomachs. They were manacled at the ankles, in pairs, the left ankle of one to the right ankle of the other. And through loops in these irons ran chains long enough for a man—with the consent of his partner—to move only a few feet, toward the occasional cone-shaped bucket meant for collecting waste” (Hill
“In twentieth-century America the history of poverty begins with most working people living on the edge of destitution, periodically short of food, fuel, clothing, and shelter” (Poverty in 20th Century America). Poverty possesses the ability to completely degrade a person, as well as a family, but it can also make that person and family stronger. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, a family of immigrants has to live in severe poverty in Packingtown, a suburb of Chicago. The poverty degrades the family numerous times, and even brings them close to death. Originally the family has each other to fall back on, but eventually members of the family must face numerous struggles on their own, including “hoboing it” and becoming a prostitute. The Jungle, a naturalistic novel by Upton Sinclair, reveals the detrimental effects that a life of poverty exerts on the familial relationships of immigrants in Chicago during the early 1900’s.
In 1906, socialist Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a book he hoped would awaken the American people to the deplorable conditions of workers in the meat packing industry. Instead, the book sent the country reeling with its description of filthy, rat infested plants, suspect meats processed and sold to consumers, and corrupt government inspectors. President Roosevelt became seriously concerned by the charges brought forth by Mr. Sinclair and determined the only way to protect consumers from unscrupulous business and unsafe food was to enforce regulation.
A major theme of The Jungle is socialism as a remedy for the evils of capitalism. Every event that takes place in the novel is designed to show a particular failure of capitalism. Sinclair attempts to show that capitalism is a "system of chattel slavery" and the working class is subject to "the whim of en every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers"(Sinclair 126). Sinclair portrays this view through Jurgis, a hardworking Lithuanian immigrant and his family. Sinclair uses the hardships faced by this family to demonstrate the effect of capitalism on working people as a whole. Jurgis' philosophy of "I will work harder" is shown not to work in this system. No matter how hard Jurgis worked, he and his family were still stuck in the same squalor. These characters did not overcome the odds and succeed. That would defeat the purpose of the novel; to depict capitalism as an economic and social system that ignores the plight of the working class and only cares for the wealthy, as well as furthering his socialist agenda.
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.
Imagine moving to an unfamiliar place, speaking little to none of the native language, and being under immense pressure to not only care for and afford a nicer life for yourself but also your spouse and others. In “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, readers get a look into the struggles the main character, Jurgis Rudkus must face and overcome in a new bustling environment. Throughout the story Jurgis begins to realize the difficulties that come with the American dream and the sacrifices he must make in order to make it in America. Through the exploitation of laborers, filthy work conditions and the prejudice and unjust economic and social system Jurgis comes to realize nothing comes easy in America.
The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, is a story about an immigrant that is trying to live the American Dream. The story follows Jurgis, a man from Lithuania who moves to Chicago to pursue a better life and to reach the “American Dream”. Unfortunately, Jurgis encounters multiple problems throughout his pursue such as jail time and death in the family to name a few. In the end, he doesn’t really get to live his “American Dream”, so he tries to improve it for others by joining a social reform to protest the problems with capitalism. The time that this story is taken place in is the early 20th century, where some working environments were harsh and the employees were taken advantage of. I believe Sinclair’s thesis for the novel was that the working
In the early 1900's life for America's new Chicago immigrant workers in the meat packing industry was explored by Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle. Originally published in 1904 as a serial piece in the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason, Sinclair's novel was initially found too graphic and shocking by publishing firms and therefore was not published in its complete form until 1906. In this paper, I will focus on the challenges faced by a newly immigrated worker and on what I feel Sinclair's purpose was for this novel.
The novel opens with Mr. Jones not locking up the barn properly because he is so drunk. The animals taking advantage of the situation have a meeting planned to hear about the dream that Old Major had the previous night. Old Major speaks about his idea of something he calls animalism. This is the idea he has of the humans that control them and mistreat them. In his dream he describes a world without humans and the animals doing all the work for no one but themselves. He also teaches them a song that his mother taught him “Beasts of England.” Old Major dies a few days later and the animals waste no time in planning a revolution because of the recent worse treatment by Mr. Jones. The pigs are the ...
The Jungle Book theme is loyalty and family because even tho their willingness to defend or fight. Mowgli repeatedly shows loyalty in killing Shere Khan and in standing up to the villagers. Baloo and bagheera is also loyal when saving Mowgli from the monkeys and saving mowgli from king louie so the theme is loyalty and family.
“Unbind her,” he ordered, placing the meat at his paws to free his own mouth. They hesitated for a moment or so longer than he would have liked, but a simple narrowing of the eyes was enough to move them to action, fingers quickly untying and prying off the rope. “Wait outside,” he commanded next, and the guards quickly saw themselves to the mouth of the cave. Once they were out of earshot he settled back on his hindquarters, pushing the chunk of flesh closer with a