The Role Of Capitalism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

In Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, the evils of greedy and selfish individuals are concentrated to create a muckraking text in which the flaws and failures of american capitalism are revealed. Sinclair’s use of fictionalized, yet realistic events when regarding the lifestyles of the working class magnifies the moral and ethical corruptions of not capitalism entirely, but specifically the meat packing industry of Chicago (late 1800’s and early 1900’s). It is through the lenses of what is humane and what is not, what is right and what is wrong, that Sinclair’s desire for change can be relayed to the reader’s own heart and mind. These morally and ethically corrupted occurrences are what drive power, and meaning into The Jungle.

Sinclair opens the novel by introducing the Lukoszaite/Rudkus family; a lower class, Lithuanian immigrant family living in Chicago. From the beginning, the family begins to work in Packingtown; the meat packing industry of Chicago where thousands upon thousands of

cattle and swine are tortured by machines and packed into cans. It is there that Jurgis–the father– first comes into contact with the exploitation of animals, the working class, and ultimately himself. Jurgis’ first questioning of his faith in the american dream occurs when he is assigned another man’s job, and he slides [flesh unfit for consumption] into the trap[s], calves and all, and on the floor below [he takes out] these "slunk" calves, and butcher[s] them for meat,… [using] even the skins of them.” (Sinclair 71) Sinclair utilizes this event in The Jungle, to reveal how filthy and unsanitary the meat was at the time. Consumers couldn't know the difference between quality beef, and a combination of calve fetuses, innards, and even feces. This was a fictionalized event, save it was most definitely a reality for many of the workingmen at the time.
In chapter 6, Jurgis and his wife Ona are informed by their neighbor that the “new” house they signed off on, is a scandal commonly used by conmen to sweep money from working families. As the tensions from job losses and the house scandal rise, Jurgis and Ona’s faith in the american dream dwindles away even further. This is shown as follows:
Then again there was not a sound. It was sickening, like a nightmare, in which suddenly something gives way beneath you, and you feel yourself sinking, sinking, down into bottomless abysses. As if in a flash of lightning they saw themselves--victims of a relentless fate, cornered, trapped, in the grip of destruction. (79)

The family’s dwindling hopes play an essential role in the novel’s purpose, as it also conveys Sinclair's ideals on capitalism not only in the meat industry, but in several other industries, thus further convincing the reader of the benefits of capitalism's demise.
After a series of deaths in the family, Jurgis and Ona’s spirits become astonishingly weak.

Their world begins to truly crumble. As more and more conflict arises from within their lives, Sinclair's oppositions towards capitalism shine through and dig deeper and deeper. The corruption within the way businesses and employers treat the working class shows vibrantly when Jurgis–equipped with no money and exhausted from his constant pursuits to find work– begs a doctor to treat his sick wife. Despite ultimately receiving aide from the doctor, Ona dies in premature labour along with her child leaving Jurgis “gone away himself, stumbling through the shadows, and groping after the soul that had fled.” (217) The family’s situation in a world of intense competition and absent justice leaves them squandering for the resources that will keep them alive. This reflects the extreme damages of capitalism on thousands of lives, and as a result, magnifies Sinclair’s already strong argument for

justice.
The bountiful multitude of morally and ethically corrupt events incorporated into the stories of the immigrant family in The Jungle are what drive power and personal relation into Sinclair’s novel. From unhealthy working conditions and unfair wages, to animal rights violations, and finally to the dying population of the unemployed, capitalism is accurately portrayed as an unethical method of economics. The novel’s purpose is derived from these uses of fictionalized, yet realistic events, and can be seen by any human being as the most important role in communicating a powerful message to America, and bestowing deeper levels of relevance and meaning into The Jungle.