Sinclair used these events to his advantage to write a novel about. Sinclair not only wrote in depth about the meat-packing industry, but also went as far as becoming a worker himself in the industry to be able to write exactly what it was like. Sinclair spent many weeks in Packingtown to gather information to include into his novel. Sinclair used this information to expose the meat-packing plants (The Jungle and the Progressive Era). Although many Americans ate the food the plants provided, not many Americans actually new what is was that they were consuming. Sinclair surprised many Americans with the details of the plants they were not aware of; “His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws”(Meat Packing Lies: Exposing The Fiction Of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle). After spending several weeks obtaining information, Sinclair was able to use his information to expose to America what the meat-packing industry was truly like (The Jungle and the Progressive …show more content…
Sinclair was given a $500 advance to write his novel to help expose the meat-packing industry (Conditions in Meatpacking Plants). This not only helped Sinclair start the writing of his novel, but also motivated him more to want to expose the true horrors of the meat-packing plants. Sinclair, being a journalist and activist, took up the opportunity and wrote the novel to expose the companies. Because he was an activist, Upton Sinclair wanted to see a change in the world regarding the meat-packing industry. As an activist he hoped that in writing his novel he would start an improvement in the meat-packing industry. Upton Sinclair simply wanted to see America become a better place, and in writing his novel he was able to make that happen. His purpose for his novel was to let Americans around the country become aware of what was truly going on in the meat-packing plants, in which case he greatly succeeded (The Jungle and the Progressive