Social Darwinism is the central theme that dominated the novel “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair. Upton had demonstrated successfully how social Darwinism is not the way for a functional society to thrive, thus providing a solution like Socialism to the readers. Social Darwinism, putting into the simplest context, is the theory of society where the rich survives and the poor dies; whoever could make the most money and bribe the most power would win the game, while for the people who have to find job and money are the one designated to fail. Jurgis Rudkus was a Lithuanian immigrant that came to America seeking fortune for his family, thinking that he would achieve the “American Dream” if only he retained his diligence with work. Sadly he is not getting any prosperity, “The great corporation which employed you lied to you, and lied to the whole country—from top to bottom it was nothing but one gigantic lie.” (Sinclair 62) He soon found out he would not be able to gain success, but only through corruption and later Socialism. …show more content…
In the novel, we can clearly differentiate the weak and the powerful instantly.
The workers in meat packing industries and immigrants are in the lower caste system, while the authoritative ones are the owner of the industries or the monopolies. Jurgis’ family has to work ¾ of their 24-hour cycle, while the powerful enjoy leisure and exploitation of cheap labor. Children and elders in the family also have to work, like the circumstance of Dede Antanas Rudku and Stanislovas Lukoszaite. There was a point where the children are the one affording incomes for the family. “There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.” (Sinclair 235). Is this the way of the “American Dream”? Or is this the way of desolation to people trying their best, but will never get a taste of
accomplishment? Social Darwinism, as cruel as it sounds, is still well alive. In Thailand, the poor are extremely poor and the rich are indeed rich. This had produced problems between both sides and caused Thailand to initiate a military coup to stop the protest. In the United State, social Darwinism also dictate the economy, where the top 2% of the population has more than 50% of the money, while 98% are trying their best to achieve economical stability. It’s still prominent in the world, and it is an unbreakable situation to balance out. In the end of the novel, Jurgis had joined the socialist movement. Socialism is a theory of society that everyone, both rich and poor, has the right to gain balanced income. This is widely used in European countries such as China, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark etc. Socialism is a way for everyone to gain equal benefits and productions of goods are owned by the states. We also must understand that social Darwinism and Socialism both has it’s own pros and cons. The world isn’t perfect, and humans are even worse. We always try to find the best interest for ourselves, disregarding how others feel. When we create time and money, we unfortunately created more problems. We created incentives, good and bad, to lure people’s desire to work, like the “American Dream”. Only to find out the materialistic culture of money and property lend to depression and sorrow of innocent and more materialistic power for the wicked. “If we are the greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, it would seem to be mainly because we have been able to goad our wage-earners to this pitch of frenzy.” (Sinclair 166).
In the world of economic competition that we live in today, many thrive and many are left to dig through trashcans. It has been a constant struggle throughout the modern history of society. One widely prescribed example of this struggle is Upton Sinclair's groundbreaking novel, The Jungle. The Jungle takes the reader along on a journey with a group of recent Lithuanian immigrants to America. As well as a physical journey, this is a journey into a new world for them. They have come to America, where in the early twentieth century it was said that any man willing to work an honest day would make a living and could support his family. It is an ideal that all Americans are familiar with- one of the foundations that got American society where it is today. However, while telling this story, Upton Sinclair engages the reader in a symbolic and metaphorical war against capitalism. Sinclair's contempt for capitalist society is present throughout the novel, from cover to cover, personified in the eagerness of Jurgis to work, the constant struggle for survival of the workers of Packingtown, the corruption of "the man" at all levels of society, and in many other ways.
Growing up in The United States, people are given this idea of an American Dream. Almost every child is raised to believe they can become and do anything they want to do, if one works hard enough. However, a majority of people believe that there is a separation of class in American society. Gregory Mantsios author of “Class in America-2009” believes that Americans do not exchange thoughts about class division, although most of people are placed in their own set cluster of wealth. Also political officials are trying to get followers by trying to try to appeal to the bulk of the population, or the middle class, in order to get more supporters. An interesting myth that Mantsios makes in his essay is how Americans don’t have equal opportunities.
America has always seen as the symbolic ideal country of prosperity and equality. This is the reason why people come to America hoping to become successful, but in matter of fact we all have an equal plan field to be successful is not entirely true. For there are social boundaries that keep use limited based upon our own status. Whether we are born of a low class or of a high class the possibility of economic mobility in a sense are predetermined by two factors of social class and success together they both affecting one’s another opportunity of success. In order to achieve success, we must know that it is made up of two main concepts and they are fortune and position. But when a person is limited by their class prohibiting them to achieve success, the point of trying is meaningless. However, there is a way to break the construct that keep groups stuck in the lower-class and is through education. Education gives more opportunities for success to the individuals and since education is very important, culture and the government should focus more directly upon this to reach economic stability. Class standing directly affects economic success in America by limiting a person’s chance of success however; one can overcome by focusing more upon education and culture.
In the world of economic competition that we live in today, many thrive and many are left to dig through trash cans. It has been a constant struggle throughout the modern history of society. One widely prescribed example of this struggle is Upton Sinclair's groundbreaking novel, The Jungle. The Jungle takes the reader along on a journey with a group of recent Lithuanian immigrants to America. As well as a physical journey, this is a journey into a new world for them. They have come to America, where in the early twentieth century it was said that any man willing to work an honest day, would make a living and could support his family. It is an ideal that all Americans are familiar with one of the foundations that got American society where it is today. However, while telling this story, Upton Sinclair engages the reader in a symbolic and metaphorical war against capitalism. Sinclair's contempt for capitalist society is present throughout the novel, from cover to cover, personified in the eagerness of Jurgis to work, the constant struggle for survival of the workers of Packingtown, the corruption of "the man" at all levels of society, and in many other ways.
Firstly, the rhetor appeals to the reader’s sense of patriotism by discussing a system (in the restaurant industry) that disallows the pursuit of the American Dream. The rhetor writes about how people are forced to live with low wages and being in poverty when they shouldn’t. They put in a very large amount of work in their jobs and get little reward for what they do. This changes the way society works and allows for an enlargement of the amount of people below the poverty line. People (in America) feel entitled to certain rights including economic freedom. The author appeals to the emotions of the American people by subtly suggesting an infringement of freedom. In a larger picture, this problem of income disparity is addressed nationwide, people look to politicians to fix the “evergrowing” income gap between the upper and lower income levels. This becomes highly important when looking at what defines an American, whether it be income or freedom, both are being jeopardized by this
Christopher Phelps’ Introduction states, “As a metaphor, ‘jungle’ denoted the ferocity of dog-eat-dog competition, the barbarity of exploitative work, the wilderness of urban life, the savagery of poverty, the crudity of political corruption, and the primitiveness of the doctrine of survival of the fittest, which led people to the slaughter as surely as cattle.”(1), this is the foundation to Sinclair’s arguments that capitalism promotes competition between the working-class for mere survival all the while destroying human rights and crushing the American dream.
Although most Americans continue to believe working hard is the most important element for getting ahead, they no longer believe that it guarantees success (Hanson 2010: 570). "Lack of thrift, effort, ability, motivation, and self-control are the most popular explanations for poverty among Americans. Thus, inequality is justified and the Dream can stay alive in the context of one of the wealthiest nations with one of the greatest wealth divides" (Hanson 2010: 571). Instead of one undifferentiated American dream to collectively strive towards, there are several interpretations which pertain to differing social locations. This is because of the inequalities of advantages and disadvantages across generations produced by cumulative institutional processes and an unfair opportunity structure (Pallas 2008:
The life of Jurgis Rudkus, from the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, shares many parallels to the life of the working class in American society during the period 1865 to 1910 that limits the freedom of the working class. Even though it is stated on paper that working class citizens such as Jurgis are equals and just as free as the upper class citizens, people like Jurgis are not truly “free” because the social and political forces at the time are limiting their ability to exercise their freedom, trapping them in an endless circle of poverty and despair. The working conditions at the time for the majority of laborers were deplorable. Businessmen would take advantage of the laborers and force them to work long hours with severely little pay.
...cial Darwinism. Darwin created the idea of natural selection, proposing that those best suited to live well in their environments and those who die off. A relation to this idea is the corruption of Packingtown. This starts off from when the family is scammed by the real estate company and when Jurgis is conned into an election scam, eventually leading to him joining it himself. These instances show that the only way to survive in Packingtown is to cheat those around you. Instead of the popular “kill or be killed” term, The Jungle transformed it into something along the terms of “making a living off of others or screw yourself”. Sinclair brings these ideals into his novel to connect yet another evil of capitalism. It suggests that if everyone was equal, there wouldn’t be a need to scam others to make money, but because of the hardships it is the only way to thrive.
When arriving to America the family sees the real way that the people live in the city and immediately know it is not the life they thought it would be. When arriving to the city Jurgis says, “Tomorrow, I will get a job, and perhaps Jonas will get one also; and then we can get a place of our own”(Sinclair 35). Jurgis arrives to america with an eagerness to find work to support his family which becomes more and more difficult for him as the story goes on. The constant bad luck that happens to Jurgis is later connected to the faults of capitalism and how corrupt it is for the working class in this society. Soon Jurgis could not support his family on his own and eventually the entire family needs to get a job to pay for their costs. Sinclair builds sympathy for Jurgis and his family throughout the beginning of the novel but also depicts the poverty of the working class and how they are equally struggling to make a living.
...r Jurgis, as a sort of working mule; he, too, had felt the world's injustice, but instead of bearing it patiently, he had struck back, and struck hard. He was striking all the time there was war between him and society. He was a genial freebooter, living off the enemy, without fear or shame.” (Sinclair) When we meet characters like Freddie Jones who is so use to comfortable living and having money we understand the inequality that Sinclair and George speak of. “Looks like a lot, hey? said Master Freddie, fumbling with it. Fool you, though, ole chappie they're all little ones.” Freddie has so much money and yet he still thinks it's not enough. In conclusion Sinclair has showed us the struggle this family went through despite their hard work and dedication, and most of it was because of the corrupt government who allowed people and businesses to manipulate immigrants.
Employment is hard to find and hard to keep and a job isn’t always what one hoped for. Sometimes jobs do not sufficiently support our lifestyles, and all too frequently we’re convinced that our boss’s real job is to make us miserable. However, every now and then there are reprieves such as company holiday parties or bonuses, raises, promotions and even a half hour or hour to eat lunch that allows escape from monotonous workloads. Aside from our complaints, employment today for majority of American’s isn’t totally dreadful, and there always lies opportunity for promotion. American’s did not always experience this reality in their work places though, and not long past are days of abysmal and disgusting work conditions. In 1906 Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” was published. His novel drastically transformed the way Americans felt about the unmitigated power corporations wielded in the ‘free’ market economy that was heavily propagandized at the turn of the century. Corporations do not have the same unscrupulous practices today because of actions taken by former President Theodore Roosevelt who felt deeply impacted by Sinclair’s famous novel. Back in early 1900’s in the meatpacking plants of Chicago the incarnation of greed ruled over the working man and dictated his role as a simple cog within an enormous insatiable industrial machine. Executives of the 1900’s meatpacking industry in Chicago, IL, conspired to work men to death, obliterate worker’s unions and lie to American citizens about what they were actually consuming in order to simply acquire more money.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
One would expect that social equality would just be the norm in society today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Three similar stories of how inequality and the hard reality of how America’s society and workforce is ran shows a bigger picture of the problems American’s have trying to make an honest living in today’s world. When someone thinks about the American dream, is this the way they pictured it? Is this what was envisioned for American’s when thinking about what the future held? The three authors in these articles don’t believe so, and they are pretty sure American’s didn’t either. Bob Herbert in his article “Hiding from Reality” probably makes the most honest and correct statement, “We’re in denial about the extent of the rot in the system, and the effort that would be required to turn things around” (564).
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.