Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: The Rise Of Socialism

Improved Essays
In Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle he spoke about the many problems in the early stages of America's industrial age. Some points he spoke on where how the meat factories were very unsanitary and how it made many people who ate the rotten moldy meat sick enough to where it was no surprise that they would die. But Upton Sinclair's main focus was not get the meat problem fixed it was to push socialism and have it established in America so that people did not have to live so poorly and everyone could live equally but sadly all that he changed in the end was how meat f.

A rationale for their behavior is that all their lives were just not very enjoyable plain and simple. everyone who could work works everyday of their lives just to survive. they don't ever get the chance to have fun or enjoy their lives. To them all they do is work work work just to get nowhere except exactly back where they started . So it just makes him not care what type of person they are. In their mind all their
…show more content…
The novel followed around Jurgis Rudkus and his life as a new american to push socialism, to bring attention toward the people of society. Yet little did he know that his novel brought everyone's main focus to the unsuitable workplaces in america's early industrial age and showed how moving to America was not all it was cut up to be for immigrants. it was a hard transition for many and very few of the immigrants who came to america became the successful wealthy people they were leaded to believe that they would be .No matter how hard they worked but little do they know become a successful person in America was not as easy as said to be in those days. In fact it was very hard for people to even make enough money to put food in their

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Upton Sinclair's’ book the Jungle, is based over the Gilded Age in history. In the Gilded Age things did not appear as it seemed. For example the meat packing industry was very disgusting and the bosses hid those types of things from the public. In the story Sinclair writes about a family that are immigrants who are trying to survive in the inner parts of Chicago. The family gets cheated out of everything and nothing rarely ever goes their way.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Upton Sinclair - His newspaper articles attacked the Chicago meatpacking industry in the early 1900's. He discovered that if he walked into the packing houses carrying a bucket, people thought he was a sweeper and let him past. He saw rats everywhere, filthy water, meat inspectors being bribed, and meatpacking in conditions so filthy that you couldn't see your own shoes because of all the garbage on the floor! His book, The Jungle, created a nationwide sensation, and resulted in the Pure Food & Drug Act.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is an accurate presentation of United States history during the early twentieth century because it correctly depicts the exploitation of the poor working class and eventual shattering of dreams by the wealthy capitalists through: the political corruption such as the party bosses’ constant rigging of elections, the harsh labor conditions and cheating of wages put on workers, and the constant injustices and swindling that the working class endured. Sinclair portrays the twisted influence of political machines during the Progressive era in The Jungle. For example, when the main character Jurgis gets out of Bridewell Prison, he begins to work for Mike Scully (a corrupt Democrat) by joining a union that does not…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Once he’s released from jail he finds out that they were evicted from their home and his family is living in a boarding house, he also finds Ona in labor but she and the child end up dying. After experiencing another death, now of his youngest child he sets out to become a tramp and travel across the country where he comes to find work in farming. He eventually ends up going back to Chicago where his hardships continue. Jurgis finds his way to a rally where a speaker named Ostrinski was talking about the economic, social and political injustices that keep workers from advancing and keep them in poverty. Jurgis is enthralled and wants to learn more from Ostrinski, he explains more about socialism to Jurgis and Jurgis eventually ends up being an advocate for the socialist…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sinclair used his novel, The Jungle, to expose the corruption of greedy big businessmen who made their fortunes at the expense of the desperate working class. Sinclair’s writing was so influential and persuasive that it caused the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act to be passed in the United States Congress. Although the intent of Sinclair’s novel was to expose the exploitation of the working class and promote socialism as a solution, it gained notoriety for exclusively exposing the unsanitary conditions of food processors. Sinclair famously said of the public reaction "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."(Andrew…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the early 20th century, swarms of immigrants began coming to America, in hopes of a better life. They were soon exposed to several forms of corruption--although many did not know of this. This was because most immigrants came from poverty, and did not have a high end education. Many of them did not speak English, and therefore could not exactly comprehend the U.S. government laws, community rules, and the way businesses worked. In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair presents a wide range of corruption involving blacklisting, political scams, and the mishandling of meat.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (Sinclair 1906). The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, was intended to show the plight of immigrant workers in the meatpacking industry of Chicago. Sinclair wanted to show how capitalism had failed and that socialism was the only way to solve the problems of the American worker. However, the American public centered their concerns on the awful conditions that meat was processed and how unsanitary, contaminated, and rotten meat was making their way to American stores.…

    • 1628 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Jungle”, written by Upton Sinclair, was one of the most well known books to emerge during the Progressive Era. The publication of this piece is known to have influenced the passing of two federal laws concerning food health and safety, the Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906, and the Federal Meat Inspection Act. During the time of its' publication, it had evoked an immediate and powerful effect on Americans and federal policy. It had paved the way for federal laws regarding food health and safety that we now follow in today's day and age.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “They had dreamed of freedom; of a chance to look about them and learn something; to be decent and clean, to see their child grow up to be strong. And now it was all gone” (Sinclair 1906, 138). This is the bleak picture painted in Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle. A disturbing critique of turn-of-the-century industrialism with pervading themes of poverty, anti-corporation, and socialism.…

    • 2087 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    The jeering crowd roars as they strike. The meat packing industry is appalling; poisoned rats and tuberculosis infected steer are thrown into the quality meat. People call to end these horrendous practices. Upton Sinclair wrote, The Jungle, in response to the alleged horrors and intriguing claims. To prepare himself for informing the world, studied, lived, and breathed in the meat packing industry for several weeks.…

    • 1806 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The turn of the 20th century marked the beginning of many opportunities for various types of people and corporations. It became a chance to start one’s life again from a fresh page; whether that be immigrating to a new country or starting a business from the ground. The industrial revolution had just begun in the United States, and it seemed to be a perfect time to get involved with the industrial business. It was almost as if one could easily “strike gold” while in the US. In fact, the blanket of perceived safety could not have been more false.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 1072 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, is a fictional literary work that illustrates the labor conditions in the Chicago stockyards, describing the harsh realities immigrants faced and exposing the callous side of human nature. The Jungle is a depressing realization of how unregulated capitalistic corporation and monopolies treated human beings as less than human, with complete disregard for the workers' well-being. Throughout the book, Sinclair displays the struggles of an immigrant family in order to expose the failings in American society. Upton Sinclair was a well-known author and “muckraker” journalists in the Progressive Era. The term muckraker is known today as “Investigative Reporting”.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The rich people not only had all the money, they had all the chance to get more; they had all the know-ledge and the power, and so the poor man was down, and he had to stay down.” One of the main characteristics of the jungle is that the powerful (the rich) is powerful thanks to the weak (the poor); the law of the jungle, the law of the strongest. Upton Sinclair calls “The Jungle” the socio-economic reality that the city of Chicago is going through at the beginning of the 20th century. In the jungle, Sinclair dismantles this myth by attacking the foundation of the American dream itself.…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays