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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. When Jurgis first arrives in Chicago with his wife Ona and extended family, he realizes the exploitation of being an immigrant. Because Jurgis is in a euphoric mind of the possibilities America has to offer, he is blinded from the events that are going to occur. Shortly after Jurgis finds his job at the meat packing …show more content…
While todays workplace has progressed many people experience bias throughout their career. In an article called “Ageism and Bias in the American Workplace”, the author discusses the dominant demographic in certain lines of work. Whether by age, gender, or ethnicity some may find difficulty finding work. In this article it discusses the bias against older workers. It was found that employers were less likely to hire someone older in assumption that production would decrease resulting in a decrease in profit, but it was discovered the older workers were more long term employees. (Ageism and Bias in the American Workplace, 2015) Although Jurgis was hired quickly at the meat packing plant due to his stature, his extended family (some of the women and children) had difficulty having the same
The period of time running from the 1890’s through the early 1930’s is often referred to as the “Progressive Era.” It was a time where names such as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould and John D. Rockefeller stood for the progress of America and their great contributions to American industry and innovation. This chapter however, has a much darker side. Deplorable working conditions, rampant political corruption and power hungry monopolies and trusts threatened the working class of America and the steady influx of European immigrants hoping to make a better life for themselves and their families. What started as a grass-roots movement pushing for political reform at the local and municipal levels soon began to encompass
Upton Sinclair's Purpose in Writing The Jungle Upton Sinclair wrote this book for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, he tries to awaken the reader to the terrible. living conditions of immigrants in the cities around the turn of the century. Chicago has the most potent examples of these. conditions.
In Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, The Jungle, he exposes corruption in both business and politics, as well as its disastrous effects on a family from Lithuania. In a protest novel, the ills of society are dramatized for its effect on its characters in the story. The Jungle is an example of protest literature because it exposes in a muckraking style the lethal and penurious conditions that laborers lived and worked in, corruption in business and politics, and the unsanitary meat that was sold.
The United States of America is known as the land of opportunity and dreams. People dream of migrating to this nation for a chance of a better a life. This belief has been around for many years, ever since the birth of the United States; therefore it’s a factor in which motivate many people migrate to the United States. Upton Sinclair, author of the Jungle, narrates the life of a Lithuanian family and there struggles with work, crime, family loss, and survival in the city of Packingtown. Sinclair expresses her disgust as well as the unbelievable truth of life in the United States involving politics, corruption, and daily struggle that many suffered through in the 19th and 20th century.
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.
Discuss how Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tensions and historical processes at hand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Such is the case of Jurgis Rudkus and his extended family, consisting of cousins, in-laws, and their multitude of children. Natives to the country of Lithuania, Jurgis and his family decide that, after Jurgis and his love, Ona, marry, they will move to Chicago to find work in order to support their family. Soon after arriving to Chicago, they come across Durham’s, a meatpacking factory located in the slums of Chicago. Many of the family members begin holding jobs at Durham’s, ranging from painting cans, to cleaning meat. Over time, however, Jurgis and his family begin to notice that cleanliness, as well as the workers’ overall health, is often, if not always, overlooked. This, as well as the acts of crooked business leaders, begins to corrupt the family and soon leads them into turmoil.
In the early twentieth century, one after the other, steamboats rolled into the new land shore hauling immigrants by the two thousand, each optimistic about their plans to forge the American Dream. Well into the Industrial Revolution, it was a promising time for production and business, however, only for those in power. The hopeful and tireless could not climb the ladder of opportunity without stepping on top of others to get ahead. Jurgis, the main character of The Jungle, represents this idea as he battles capitalism first failing with hard work and later with corruption. Upton Sinclair, the author, develops the idea that rising up social classes is restricted by individual traits that limit people from changing between the classes. These same defining qualities can be found in our social classes today. Because of these barriers, there
“The Jungle,” written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, describes how the life and challenges of immigrants in the United States affected their emotional and physical state, as well as relationships with others. The working class was contrasted to wealthy and powerful individuals who controlled numerous industries and activities in the community. The world was always divided into these two categories of people, those controlling the world and holding the majority of the power, and those being subjected to them. Sinclair succeeded to show this social gap by using the example of the meatpacking industry. He explained the terrible and unsafe working conditions workers in the US were subjected to and the increasing rate of corruption, which created the feeling of hopelessness among the working class.
Upton Sinclair exposed the exploitation of Immigrants working in Chicago’s meatpacking industry during the early twentieth century. Many people believed his book “The Jungle” helped with the exposure of the corruption in the government during the twentieth century. The book focused mainly on the poor living and working conditions of Immigrants during the early twentieth century. Sinclair wanted to prove that labor unions and Progressive reform had little or no impact on improving the working conditions of Immigrants. He felt that capitalism, with or without unions or reform, would be bad for workers, especially immigrant workers who were even lower on the socioeconomic ladder than native-born workers. Sinclair 's book is meant to reject the capitalist system and bring in its place a socialist system. In this critical portrait of capitalism and its exploitation of immigrants and other workers, unions are in fact shown to be tools for the capitalist bosses, used as another means to control and mislead immigrants.
An author of a social commentary strives to create change within the society that they live in, especially a change in those inequalities and problems that they deem the most prudent and appalling. In these works it is especially important to make the story as relatable and noteworthy as possible in order to affect the reader and cause change. In his novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair uses structure, characterization, and symbolism to depict the mistreatment of the working class, especially immigrant families. He implies that no matter what, the odds are always against you, making it almost impossible to succeed in achieving the American Dream. Sinclair uses the structure of the novel to depict the cycle of life of Jurgis, especially the constant
Novels have been used frequently by authors for readers to acknowledge certain aspects of society they [readers] are unaware of. A prime example is Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. The novel focuses on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, who has just arrived in Chicago with his wife Ona and the rest of her family, including Jurgis’s aging father. Life in America starts at decent for the family with all adults capable of getting jobs, but quickly takes multiple turns for the worst. The family soon faces the corruption in America and the “American Dream” that tears each one of them apart. The Jungle is a fascinating, although gruesome and downright cruel at parts, book that reveals the hardships of poverty and the harsh
The “American Dream” is a characteristic of the United States that includes a set of shining ideals where liberty comprises the chance for wealth and success that are accomplished through laborious work in a community with few barricades. Thus, in the time period between 1905-06, thousands of people in the world immigrated to America in aspirations of building a better life and making the “American Dream” come true, despite the fact that there were a lot of unknown hardships waiting for them ahead on the way to achieve their dream. The characters Jurgis Rudkus and his family in Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, also did the same. The Jungle is a tale of difficulties and trouble, some successes and countless failures as a family attempts to
The American Dream and Capitalism are two principles that attracted millions of immigrants to the United States; however, these ideas about the standard of living were not true for many immigrants living in America in the early 1900s. The structure of capitalism in American Society allowed industrialists to take advantage of the labor force and perpetuate the poor distribution of wealth in America. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair exposes the poor conditions for millions of immigrants living in America and demonstrates that there is a need for socialism. Sinclair is able to illustrate the political and corporate corruption at the time through the life of Jurgis, a Lithuanian immigrant who faces a lot of adversity and hardship. The environment that
In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair exposes the truth about the beloved, “American Dream”. Sinclair supports his argument by uncovering the unjust treatment of citizens and the illegal activities allowed in a capitalistic society. Sinclair’s purpose is to spread socialism and to prove that hard work and perseverance do not bring success in a world where capitalism exists.