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Essay on the effects of literary elements in upton sinclair's the jungle
Essay on the effects of literary elements in upton sinclair's the jungle
A brief overview of the jungle by upton sinclair
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Upton Sinclair was challenged to write “The Jungle” by the publisher of a radical newspaper, Fred Warren. Warren wanted him to write about the current social problem of his day, which resulted in Sinclair’s most famous work of literature today. Sinclair first became interested in writing social realism with his earlier publication titled “Manassas”, the story followed the life of a plantation owner’s son. While researching for “Manassas”, Sinclair first realized his hatred of the American social structure.
Sinclair wrote “The Jungle” to get the attention of his intended audience, those who had the power to invoke changed. Sinclair knew that if enough attention was brought to the horrid conditions of the industrialized work industry, eventually the government would intervene.
Sinclair wanted to bring about change to the American social structure through his writing. His realistic writing style allowed him to create the push for changed that was needed in his time. “The Jungle” was so realistic has been accredited for the reason the Pure Food and Drug act of 1906 was passed. He was able to make his writing so realistic because of his first hand research. Sinclair
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During the late nineteenth century and carrying on through the twentieth century an influx of immigrants came to America in hopes of finding more prosperity in the new land. This huge flood of people was good for big businesses but was terrible the individual worker. With a large percentage of the population needing jobs, big businesses cut wages. They could pay an unskilled worker half the original wage and get away with it because no one in need of a job was going to quit, and if they did they were always replaceable. Alongside wages, working conditions plummeted too. “The Jungle” addresses some of the most common social issues of this time period such as, low wages, harsh working conditions, and child
Upton Sinclair's Purpose in Writing The Jungle Upton Sinclair wrote this book for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, he tries to awaken the reader to the terrible. living conditions of immigrants in the cities around the turn of the century. Chicago has the most potent examples of these. conditions.
In The Jungle, Sinclair deeply understands his subjects and can make the plots real for the reader. Even in a small section of the book, Sinclair makes me feel, imagine and contemplate his words. Chapters 18 through 23, were chapters that Sinclair took time and effort to write and make it to perfection. In my own perspective, I think he achieved this accomplishment and made these chapters a realistic event.
The Jungle, the 1906 exposé of the Chicago meatpacking industry. The novel focuses on an immigrant family and sympathetically and realistically describes their struggles with loan sharks and others who take advantage of their innocence. More importantly, Sinclair graphically describes the brutal working conditions of those who find work in the stockyards. Sinclair's description of the main character's
conditions of a Lithuanian family that moved to the US, and had to work, live, and die for the food companies in Chicago. “The Jungle” spurred a movement in the American
In 1906, socialist Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a book he hoped would awaken the American people to the deplorable conditions of workers in the meat packing industry. Instead, the book sent the country reeling with its description of filthy, rat infested plants, suspect meats processed and sold to consumers, and corrupt government inspectors. President Roosevelt became seriously concerned by the charges brought forth by Mr. Sinclair and determined the only way to protect consumers from unscrupulous business and unsafe food was to enforce regulation.
Sinclair, has shown in a dramatic style the hardships and obstacles which Jurgis and fellow workers had to endure. He made the workers sound so helpless and the conditions so gruesome, that the reader almost wants a way out for Jurgis. Sinclair's The Jungle is a "subliminal" form of propaganda for
The most significant event in the emergence of the twentieth century is the diversity and struggle of society's classes. The novel, The Jungle penned by Upton Sinclair attempts to display the social and economic challenges of the lower class by demonstrating the difficulties of a Lithuanian immigrant family.The predicament situation of Jurgis and his family reveals the dark side of the capitalism, therefore, it also revealed dominance and the exploitation of the bourgeoisie from the proletariat class.Throughout the novel, Jurgis and his family encounter varied difficulties from being unable to find a proper job to several deaths followed one after another due to the harsh life conditions consequently followed by the separation of the family
“In twentieth-century America the history of poverty begins with most working people living on the edge of destitution, periodically short of food, fuel, clothing, and shelter” (Poverty in 20th Century America). Poverty possesses the ability to completely degrade a person, as well as a family, but it can also make that person and family stronger. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, a family of immigrants has to live in severe poverty in Packingtown, a suburb of Chicago. The poverty degrades the family numerous times, and even brings them close to death. Originally the family has each other to fall back on, but eventually members of the family must face numerous struggles on their own, including “hoboing it” and becoming a prostitute. The Jungle, a naturalistic novel by Upton Sinclair, reveals the detrimental effects that a life of poverty exerts on the familial relationships of immigrants in Chicago during the early 1900’s.
“The Jungle,” written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, describes how the life and challenges of immigrants in the United States affected their emotional and physical state, as well as relationships with others. The working class was contrasted to wealthy and powerful individuals who controlled numerous industries and activities in the community. The world was always divided into these two categories of people, those controlling the world and holding the majority of the power, and those being subjected to them. Sinclair succeeded to show this social gap by using the example of the meatpacking industry. He explained the terrible and unsafe working conditions workers in the US were subjected to and the increasing rate of corruption, which created the feeling of hopelessness among the working class.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was one of the most prolific novels of the Gilded Age. Although Upton Sinclair has published over 90 books in his literary career, he is best known for the controversial and often misunderstood novel The Jungle. Upton Sinclair was primarily interested in social change and was quite concerned with social and moral improvement. Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the horrendous and inexcusable working conditions in the meatpacking industry. His portrayal of rotten, diseased, and contaminated meat traumatized the public and ultimately led to new federal food safety laws. Upton Sinclair was a muckraker. Muckrakers were reform-minded journalists who worked to expose social ills, and corruption through investigative journalism.
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.
Capitalism underwent a severe attack at the hands of Upton Sinclair in this novel. By showing the misery that capitalism brought the immigrants through working conditions, living conditions, social conditions, and the overall impossibility to thrive in this new world, Sinclair opened the door for what he believed was the solution: socialism. With the details of the meatpacking industry, the government investigated and the public cried out in disgust and anger. The novel was responsible for the passage of The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. With the impact that Sinclair must have known this book would have, it is interesting that he also apparently tried to make it fuction as propaganda against capitalism and pro-socialism.
Upton Sinclair’s story, The Jungle, represents the American dream to have a rich, successful life and the downfalls American people faced with business corruption. Sinclair used a naturalistic view to expose these downfalls in American life and industry.
In the United States, democracy has always been a key concept, and as effective as this may seem the idea was not used to its full potential, especially in the industrial era. Immigrants from out of the US had no say on issues in the country they now lived in. Also, American born citizens also struggled with letting their voice be heard, and staying in the lower class. These men were often referred to as "the working men of America" to which Upton Sinclair dedicated his book, "The Jungle." His dedication also reached the lives of immigrants, making sure to expose very little wages and horrible working
How The Jungle Influenced Social Reform and Socialism Beginning in the late 19th century, many people became concerned with many social problems resulting from the industrialization period of the United States. People began to demand reform. The writing of the book The Jungleby Upton Sinclair was one of the most influential tools used to reform many American industries. In this book, Sinclair focuses on the unsanitary conditions and corruption that was involved in the Chicago meat packing industry.