Socialism Has Done To America Rhetorical Analysis

While Sinclair was writing an important message to the American people he did not simply put the words on a page. He used third person narrative to describe how Jurgis was feeling and what he was experiencing. Sinclair’s tone is sympathetic. He writes in a way that shows that the victims of the industrial age are the poor working class. His worldview is shown to the audience through the eyes of his main character Jurgis and the conflicts with the family members and other people in his life.

From a standpoint of Socialism, Sinclair explores the movement as a plan that can fix what Capitalism has done to America. Through the descriptions of the characters lives, Sinclair effectively explains in detail how disastrous the exploitation of workers

is. In a Capitalist world, it is the survival of the fittest and Jurgis is a prime example that though many will work hard and be honest and kind and good people, they will never make it to the top because the game is rigged. “Here is a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers; under such circumstances, immorality is exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it is under the system of chattel slavery" (The Jungle Ch 10).
Sinclair starts the novel out by describing the life of Jurgis Rudkus who is a Lithuanian Immigrant about to marry the lovely Ona. They begin their new life in Packingtown which is the filthiest and most dangerous part of Chicago. When they are first married they figure out the owe the saloon keeper money. Although most immigrants just leave, Jurgis has faith in the America he dreamed about and vows to work harder to pay the bills. He is young and strong