Class Labor In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

During the turn of the 20th century, the United States transitioned toward production by craftsmanship, to industrial machinery. Although the rate of production grew tremendously, issues between the citizens became observable. The Jungle, a powerful and eye-opening novel by Upton Sinclair, shows how the meat-packing industry ran off corruption and “modern” slave work. The upper class, politicians and factory managers, took charge of the hideous environment the working class labored in. Throughout the story, Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, experiences numerous obstacles with his family in the new country. All immigrating from Lithuania, the family encountered the obstacles through Capitalist competition and exploitation. As a dedicated …show more content…
When the family arrives to Chicago, they realized the importance of finding jobs and a home. With a total of eleven people in the family, including the six children birthed by Teta Elzbieta, having a stable income provides the family with all survival necessities. Due to the lack of education and English-speaking abilities, the adults only received low-wage, unskilled jobs in the factories of Packingtown, a small area within the city of Chicago. Each adult receive a job, which requires a massive amount of hours providing unskilled labor. The factory bosses did not give any level sympathy to the workers, including the family members. During a frigid winter months, when having a steady income directly correlated to survival, some of the factories shut down in result of broken machinery. In the novel, Durham’s factory, a canning production factory, closed and left Marija out of work. Likewise, the majority of the winter, Jurgis earned less than half of his expected earnings from working the slaughter beds. At this point, Jurgis starts to realize that the factories cheat workers out of sufficient pay. Jurgis analyzes the issue by noting “he could appreciate the bitter irony of the fact that it was precisely their size which enabled them to do it with impunity” (107). The realization that the …show more content…
In order to live in the United States, the family needed to find a place to shelter out. At first, they paid rent to Mrs. Aniele Jukniene, who earns money by providing rental space for immigrants coming to the United States. When the family receives jobs and starts saving money, Jurgis recommends looking into buying a house for the family. Ona, Jurgis’ wife, does not like the idea of getting a house. In Lithuania, she acquired a greater amount of education about the United States compared to Jurgis, so her hesitation foreshadows a problem with the house they buy. The family set off to meet with the realtors for the houses. The house did not meet the expectations that the family wanted. After a few moments of debating and discussion, however, they agreed to sign the deed to the house. The first moment of exploitation came before the purchase ever occured. Jurgis wanted to buy a house in result of an advertisement he saw on the street. The label, translated to English, read “Why pay rent?...Why not own your own home? Do you know that you can buy one for less than your rent? We have built thousands of homes which are now occupied by happy families” (56). The realtors use this typical persuasion tactic to compete with other realtors that sell houses. In regard to Capitalism, competition can lead to unrestricted lying and loopholes. First off, two fine-print regulations in the deed caused uproar and