Discuss how Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tensions and historical processes at hand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle tells the narrative of a couple who immigrated to
Chicago from Lithuania for a better life. The couple, Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite,
and their entire families move to Packingtown, Chicago a town that consists of many
other Lithuanian immigrants. Shortly after, the couple get married. Although the town of
Packingtown was said to be one of the more dangerous and filthy neighborhoods of the
state, the newlyweds and their relatives decide to go thru any hardships as long as they
can work and live an American life. Jurgis takes up a job as a sweeper at a
slaughterhouse
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Soon he realizes that capitalists are just corrupt people who just happen to
have wealth. The wealth gap and corruption becomes apparent to him; the capitalist
Jurgis once hope to embrace as he lived the “American dream” is nothing more than
predators “preying upon the people”. Jurgis soon after joins a union and learns the web of
lies that runs the Packingtown. This time period had a lot of Union members who wanted
an economic reformation. Many workers began to advocate fo their rights as laborers.
Jurgis attends a rally where a speaker says that “If more people convert to socialism,
Chicago will be ours”, which was everything Jurgis believed.Despite, the string of
unfortunate events that Jurgis is forced to endure, Sinclair chooses to end his novel on a
lighter note. Giving the immigrants hope for reformation through worker collaboration.
He almost seems to be advocating socialism, However, while socialism was condemned
throughout America, it served as a medium to help workers demand their rights.
Therefore, Sinclair;s novel is an embodiment of the immigrant worker’s struggle
during the 19th/ 20th century.Immigrants had to go through harsh working conditions
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Eventually Sinclair emphasizes a turning point, in which the immigrant family
finally realizes the illusion of the “American Dream”Here, Sinclair emphasizes a turning
point, in which the immigrant finally realizes the allusion of the “American dream”. “To
Jurgis the packers had been equivalent to fate; Ostrinski showed him that they were the
Beef Trust. They were a gigantic combination of capital, which had crushed all
opposition, and overthrown the laws of the land, and was preying upon the people.” In
the beginning of the novel, Jurgis considers capitalists as having control over him. He
thinks that he just merely works under them and he always has to no matter what
happens. Soon he realizes that capitalists are just corrupt people who just happen to
have wealth. The wealth gap and corruption becomes apparent to him; the capitalist
Jurgis once hope to embrace as he lived the “American dream” is nothing more than
predators “preying upon the people”. Jurgis soon after joins a union and learns the web of
lies that runs the Packingtown. This time period had a lot of Union members who wanted
an economic reformation. Many workers began to advocate fo their rights as
After Jurgis works in the packing house for a while, a man tells him in Lithuanian that he can now become a citizen. Jurgis is then registered to vote, and told about one of the candidates. Nothing is said of the other candidate, so he votes for the man. that he is told of, and receives money for this vote. Another problem faced by most of the immigrants of Chicago is making a living from it.
“You don’t have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it. I didn’t like the way I found America some sixty years ago, and I’ve been trying to change it ever since” (azquotes). The quote in the previous sentence reveals the structure by which Upton Sinclair lived his life. During his lifetime, he penned many novels, articles and stories that changes the way America functioned then, and the way America continues to function now. One novel created by Upton Sinclair was The Jungle. This story of pain, suffering and tragedy brought the dangers of the meat packing industry to the people of America. He was able to use his socialist views to inspire the novel The Jungle, which passed many laws and made meat-packing plants making
Several years before and after the turn the turn of the twentieth century, America experienced a large influx of European immigration. These new citizens had come in search of the American dream of success, bolstered by promise of good fortune. Instead they found themselves beaten into failure by American industry. Upton Sinclair wanted to expose the cruelty and heartlessness endured by these ordinary workers. He chose to represent the industrial world through the meatpacking industry, where the rewards of progress were enjoyed only by the privileged, who exploited the powerless masses of workers. The Jungle is a novel and a work of investigative journalism; its primary purpose was to inform the general public about the dehumanization of American workers. However the novel was much more effective at exposing the unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry.
The lack of government intervention was causing major issues and uprisings throughout the 1900’s. Places like Packingtown took advantage of the limited regulations enforced by the government and tried to maximize their profits. This led to many problems for the workers in the factory and the meat consumers. First of all, there were very long working hours. A typical day at that time consisted of a
In America, it is believed that the way to be successful is on must sacrifice and have the determination to obtain one's dream. However, the truth is has much as one works so hard that dream cannot be obtained unless one is fortunate to be born in wealth or has luck. For instance, in "Sam Walton/ Jay-Z", Jay is a perfect example that a dream can be obtained by luck. Born and raised in the projects Jay-Z did experience poverty, and his lifestyle influences him to seek for a better lifestyle. Although he did obtain his dream; becoming rich, and now considered one of the greater rapper. Jay Z had to go through a notorious lifestyle, to the point of risking his own life to become the person he is
A while later Jurgis and his family were amazed with the idea of buying a house. Jokuba suggested them to rent a space in a boarding house but the place was very filthy without any accommodations. Rooms were crowed of immigrant families like Jurgis. The space was too small that they could only have a stove and a few mattresses on the floor. Unfortunately, this family was falsely deceived like others immigrants in their arrival. They had much desire to achieve the American Dream that they rushed on things and did not get informed correctly. This idea of becoming home owners without enough resources sounded very superficial. “Their good luck, they felt, had given them the right to think about a home… (Sinclair 33).” They were a large family and the place they got was not quite comfortable for them. These reasons were not sufficient for them to rush and spend the money they brought from Lithuania. They were new comers in this neighborhood and they did not know the language to understand the advantages and disadvantages of buying a house. In Lithuania, they lost their home and they decided to adventure to American instead. The decision to leave Lithuania was wrong and very hasty of this family. In their country they lost almost everything but they still had each other. They came to America seeking for a dream that later turned into a nightmare. Their mistake was taking a risk without conceiving the idea of
In 1931 when the American Dream arose, Americans believed that the harder one worked, the more one would prosper (Meacham, 2012). In other words, they strongly believed that the American Dream was gaining a better, richer, happier life. Today, the American Dream is still hoping to earn a college degree, get a good job, buy a house, and start a family, but according to MetLife’s fifth annual survey, 41% of the respondents said it was about personal fulfillment, while most American’s say it is out of reach for many (White, ...
In Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, “The Jungle,” he exposes corruption in business and government and its disastrous effects on a family from Lithuania. The novel follows immigrant Jurgis Rudkus as he struggles against the slow ANNIHILATION of his family and is REBORN after discovering that socialism as a cure away to all capitalism’s problems. The Jungle is an example of protest literature because it exposes in a muckraking style the DANGEROUS, INHUMAINE conditions that workers lived and worked in, corruption in business and politics and the unsanitary meat that was sold.
In the world of economic competition that we live in today, many thrive and many are left to dig through trashcans. It has been a constant struggle throughout the modern history of society. One widely prescribed example of this struggle is Upton Sinclair's groundbreaking novel, The Jungle. The Jungle takes the reader along on a journey with a group of recent Lithuanian immigrants to America. As well as a physical journey, this is a journey into a new world for them. They have come to America, where in the early twentieth century it was said that any man willing to work an honest day would make a living and could support his family. It is an ideal that all Americans are familiar with- one of the foundations that got American society where it is today. However, while telling this story, Upton Sinclair engages the reader in a symbolic and metaphorical war against capitalism. Sinclair's contempt for capitalist society is present throughout the novel, from cover to cover, personified in the eagerness of Jurgis to work, the constant struggle for survival of the workers of Packingtown, the corruption of "the man" at all levels of society, and in many other ways.
Imagine going to work and being sprayed by a scorching splash of molten metal. Wouldn't that be just terrible? Unfortunately for the working-class Americans of the early 20th century (who worked in a steel-factory of sorts), this hellish scene was a reality for them (Sinclair 215). Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, a ficticious yet all-the-more realistic novel about the Chicago meat packing industry (and just working/life conditions in general for city-dwelling Americans at the time), follows Jurgis Rudkus --- A Lithuanian immigrant trying to live the “American dream”. Unfortunately, that dream is crushed under the deepest and darkest aspects of Capitalism through terrible working conditions, appalling living situations, homelessness/unemployment, and unfair legal and political procedures. These obstacles make excellent examples as for why some rules and regulations are needed in our otherwise Capitalistic society.
Upton Sinclair’s classic The Jungle analyzes a variety of concerns varying from politics to working conditions in America's capitalist economy. Sinclair highlights key issues for the Progressive Era reform, while he uncovers significant corruption taking place with the country’s rapid industrialization. He was labeled a “muckraker” for exposing the system that privileges the powerful. Upton Sinclair states that the paramount goal for writing his book was to improve worker conditions, increase wages, and put democratic socialism as a major political party. The book shocked the public nation by uncovering the unhealthy standards in the meatpacking industry it also resulted in a congressional investigation.
The American dream is defined as endless possibility- the ability to be able to be whomever or whatever you dream of, the only limit being you. Jay Gatsby epitomizes this definition with his rags-to-riches tale. He began his life as James Gatz, unsatisfied, but refusing to be complacent and accepting of his predetermined plan. Therefore he took his fate into his own hands and re-invented himself as a fairy tale hero, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby understood through hard work and determination and a little luck he could be Somebody and “to this conception he was faithful to the end.” Gatsby had the perspicacity to recognize the fortuitous opportunity he was presented with when he met Dan Cody, and he took the initiative to better himself. As a result of
The American Dream, in my eyes, would be described as unrealistic. It's a notation put in people’s minds that an individual can achieve anything he or she sets his or her mind to do. Now the outlook is being perceived as pessimistic, then again, I believe “The American Dream” is overestimated. When I was a young child, I aspired to be a princess who lived in a castle with a handsome prince and live happily ever after; I aspired to be a princess until I was thirteen. Still, it was instantaneously disappointing when reality dawned upon me, I could never be a princess. Although it left me completely devastated, I soon realized, there’s a huge difference between dreams and reality.
With America actually being seen as the land of assurance, the American dream is usually associated with the freedom and opportunity of gaining prosperity, recognition, power, triumph, and contentment. On the surface, this dream appears virtually delighted, offering individuals the exceptional hope of accomplishing success despite of one’s race, religion, or family history. The American Dream is accurately what it seems to be the chance of perfect lying nearby the corner. However, the actual nature of this dream prohibit the pleasure of the victory one has earned, as the desire is always demanding one to work a slight harder and gain a slightly more.