Do you believe this novel has any significance for anyone living in 2011? I strongly believe this novel, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, is highly significant for anyone living in 2011 because these problems are still existent within our society and many others as well. This novel discusses problems that are crucial not only to our country but to other countries that view the United States as a place of prosperity and success. Throughout the story the author’s main focus or theme is the conflict of socialism versus capitalism and the depressing truth of the American Dream. In fact, there are many substantial problems that occur in this novel but the most prevalent dilemmas are socialism, wage slavery, and the barrenness of the American Dream. Despite these dilemmas, I believe the author wants his readers to focus on his themes and see the disheartening truth of America’s corrupted past. Socialism is an essential theme in this novel that puts a lot of emphasis on its meaning. Socialism is a political and economic theory that supports ownership of production, distribution, and exchange by the community as a whole. Throughout the novel Jurgis’s immigrant family is slowly torn apart due to the bias economic and social system that America has. However, when Jurgis discovers socialist politics in Chapter 28, it clearly shows that the purpose of this novel is to show the harsh reality between the socialism and capitalism. This quote “To Jurgis the packers had been equivalent to fate; Ostrinski showed him that they were the Beef Trust” (Sinclair, pg. 384) has a dramatic impact on me because it made me realize the true differences between the two theories. Capitalism supports the rich and the wealthy continue to increases their riches ... ... middle of paper ... ...absolutely believe that Sinclair’s messages are of major importance because the validity of his messages still applies to anyone living in the 21st century. Many of his messages concerning wage slavery, socialism, poverty, and trickery of the American Dream are still common dilemmas that exist until now. There are many victims such as my relatives from past and present generations that have died in vain just hoping to support their families abroad. However, even though my parents survived this situation they are mentally scared forever because of this. In addition, I believe that this will only stop if we constantly annoy the heads of our society such as our senators of this situation. In conclusion, I believe that if everyone had the mentality of showing more compassion and sympathy towards others rather than themselves then the world would be a better place.
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,
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.
To understand the ways in which political systems are important to this novel, it is necessary to define both capitalism and socialism as they are relevant to The Jungle. Capitalism, and more specifically, laissez-faire capitalism, is the economic system in America. It basically means that producers and consumers have the right to accumulate and spend their money through any legal means they choose. It is the economic system most fitting with the idea of the American Dream. The American Dream portr...
Social class was slightly more significant than racism and sexism, because the amount of money an immigrant had determined the way they lived, the food they ate, and what work they had to do. Sinclair explained how there were two different social classes, one was “the capitalist class, with its enormous fortunes,” and the other was “proletariat, bound into slavery by unseen chains.” The overall objective of the novel was to convince the reader into becoming a Socialist, where one could fix the terrible conditions of that time
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
“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.
Capitalism and socialism both have advantages and pitfalls; when capitalism is adopted using certain socialist ideals, a truly prosperous society exists. A major theme of The Jungle is socialism as a remedy for the evils of capitalism. Every
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.
The book, The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, has portrayed how conditions and social norms of the early 1900’s helped shape society through social reform. Sexism, racism, and class, shaped the experiences and choices of the immigrants in The Jungle throughout the book. The huge difference between the classes was the most significant of the three. Sinclair used the story of one immigrant and his family to help show what was going on in society at that time, to raise awareness, and to promote socialism.
Sinclair stated that “the animals’ faith emphasized [his] views of how industry treats humankind” (Sinclair 8). Machinery was more important and valuable than the human life, especially the life of an immigrant worker with no rights and freedoms. The author concluded that society was the jungle where people had to work hard in order to survive and escape the challenges of their living. Continuous struggle was needed to maintain the challenges and problems of people’s everyday life enabling them to maintain control over their life and to get the current opportunities. Exploitation of immigrants was another important problem covered in the book promoting specific changes in society. In conclusion, Sinclair made a very convincing argument and his writing was so influential it prompted government action.
There are many characters in The Jungle. These characters vary widely in their professions, social status, and economic status. The main character in the novel is a Lithuanian named Jurgis Rudkus. His wife is Ona Lukoszaite, also a Lithuanian. Their son is named Antanas. Mike Scully is a powerful political leader in Packingtown. Phil Connor is a foreman in Packingtown, “politically connected” (through Scully), and a man who causes much trouble for Jurgis. Jack Duane is an experienced and educated criminal who is also “politically connected”. A man called Ostrinski is a half-blind tailor who teaches Jurgis about Socialism. There are also the members of Ona’s family, each of whom play minor roles in the story. The story opens with the feast at Jurgis and Ona’s wedding in America, but soon flashes back to the time before they left Lithuania. Jurgis met Ona at a horse fair, and fell in love with her. Unfortunately, they were too poor to have a wedding, since Ona’s father just died. In the hopes of finding freedom and fortune, they left for America, bringing many members of Ona’s family with them.
In Henry James’ short story, “The Beast in the Jungle”, the third person narrative is used as a literary device and therefore, the narrator does not play a role in the events of the story. Considering the fact that this is a story about a man’s self-absorption, it is interesting that this form of narration was used; typically, in order to completely capture a narrator’s self-interest first-person would be the narrative choice. Instead, James’ choice of the third person narrative is an advantage with respect to the theme of the story: a life that is not fully realized. The process by which the reader comes to understand the character of Marcher in an objective manner parallels the need of the main character to seek self-discovery by looking outside of himself. This paper will analyze James’ use of point of view in the story by applying it to the description of the first meeting between Marcher and May, and examining how this literary device is used to help the reader understand the characters and their strengths and shortcomings from the beginning of the story.
In the United States, democracy has always been a key concept, and as effective as this may seem the idea was not used to its full potential, especially in the industrial era. Immigrants from out of the US had no say on issues in the country they now lived in. Also, American born citizens also struggled with letting their voice be heard, and staying in the lower class. These men were often referred to as "the working men of America" to which Upton Sinclair dedicated his book, "The Jungle." His dedication also reached the lives of immigrants, making sure to expose very little wages and horrible working
The Jungle, a novel by Upton Sinclair, deals with many issues that went on during the early 1900’s. During this time the unemployment was very high, working conditions were awful, wages were low and crime was high. It was not an easy time to be living in America, even though “The American Dream” was on the minds of every immigrant coming to America. In the novel, Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite immigrate to America from Lithuania. They went to Chicago where they met up with some of their family that had already immigrated to America. The couple gets married really young and struggles to make it. Throughout the novel, it follows this family through their journey and struggles to make it as immigrants in America.