Upton Sinclair was born in September 20, 1878, in Baltimore. His father, who was an alcoholic, moved him and his family to New York in 1888. His family was very poor, but he spent a lot of time living with his grandparents (Simkin). “Upton Sinclair was a Mid-Twentieth- century novelist and journalist known as a muckraker, whose books exposed the exploitation of the working class” (Rhode 1377). His hard childhood eventually turned him into a socialist. Sinclair was very religious and loved literature (Simkin). At ten, he was inspired by Charles Dickens, forming a passion for social justice. The English writer William Makepeace inspired him to hate pretense and hypocrisy (Rhode 1378).
At fourteen, he attended New York City College (Simkin). His first novel was Prairie’s Pirates, Sinclair later confessed that it was similar to Treasure Island by Louis Stevenson (Rhode 1378). During his education, Sinclair paid for his college education by writing stories for magazines and newspapers. At seventeen, he earned enough to allow him to move into an apartment while supporting his parents with a decent income (Simkin).After two newspaper articles, he was able to sell enough copies to repay the debt for his uncle. Sinclair graduated from college in 1897, and worked for the Army and Navy weekly flyer (Simkin).
In 1902, Upton married Meta Fuller. Sinclair had a child, David, in 1903. In 1904, the editor of a socialist journal appointed Sinclair to write a book about working immigrants in the Chicago meat packing houses. He was given 500 dollars in advance, after seven weeks of visiting the meat packing industry and talking to the workers, he wrote The Jungle, his most famous novel (Simkin). Regarding The Jungle, Sinclair said “I aimed at the ...
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... a liveliness and spirit that appeals to many readers, Sinclair's historical novels are more pleasurable reading” (McEwen). Reviewers have criticized the conclusion of The Jungle, where the main character is inspired by the principles of socialism, as being too simplistic, edifying, and not convincing ("Explanation of: 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair”). “Despite these criticisms, The Jungle, with its harsh portrait of the American dream as unattainable to the working-class poor, is considered an important work in the tradition of the social novel” ("Explanation of: 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair”). It is very likely, that Sinclair be remembered mostly because of The Jungle, but his other works will also catch the attention of those who wish to be informed about social issues and significant events in modern history in a simple and clarified fashion (McEwen).
The Jungle. One of the most famous muckrakers, Upton Sinclair, published The Jungle in 1906, and it immediately became an international best-seller. Sinclair, who had joined the Socialist party in 1903 originally wrote The Jungle for the socialist magazine, The Appeal to Reason (Constitutional Rights Foundation). He spent time in the Chicago meatpacking district so he could truly see what was going on. What Sinclair witnessed was appalling. He saw sausage that had traveled to and from Europe, poisoned bread and dead rats being put in the hopper that ground the sausage. Instead of smoking the sausage, they preserved the meat with borax and used gelatin to color it (Sinclair 168-169). Although Sinclair wrote The Jungle to show his readers the evils of capitalism, people were more appalled at the disgusting and unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is about a Lithuanian family living in Chicago in the 1900’s. They had faith in the American dream, hoping to start a new and successful life. Unfortunately they were deprived of they hopes and dreams. They were placed in the middle of a society where only the strongest and richest survived. The rich keep getting richer and the poor get even poorer. Jurgis and his family went to extreme lengths just in hopes of finding a job, they were forced to travel in heavy rain, strong winds, and thick snow, even when they were sick, in fear of losing their jobs. The Jungle pointed out many flaws in society such as filthy meat and sickening work conditions.
Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20th 1978. Sinclair grew up in a broken household; his father was an alcohol salesman and killed himself drinking. While his mother would not even think about drinking alcohol. So these personalities naturally clashed. So Sinclair found some solace in books, Sinclair was a natural writer and he began publishing at the young age of fifteen years old. Sinclair started off going to school at a small college by the name of New York City College. This was just temporary as Sinclair would need time and money to move higher up to a form of better education. So as a result Sinclair took the initiative and he started writing columns on ethnic jokes and hack fiction for small magazines in New York. The money he earned writing these columns allowed him to completely pay for New York City College, and eventually enroll to attend Columbia University. Sinclair worked as hard as he possibly could to get into Columbia University and he was going to do the absolute best he could while he was attending the University. Since Sinclair needed ex...
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 was first published in 1906. Contemporary critics disagree about whether or not the novel has any “relevance” for modern readers. What do YOU think?
Sinclair’s The Jungle, is his fictionalized report of Chicago's Packingtown. It traces a family of Lithuanian immigrants in Chicago, and describes the horrifying living and working conditions they endure. Through Jurgis, the protagonist, and his family, Sinclair unfolds the tragedy of suffering of all Packinghouse workers in their pursuit of the American Dream. He gives a detailed description about their ordeals, from their lodging at boardinghouses to their buying of cheated house,...
Today, Upton Sinclair is regarded as a hero to the working class people. He is currently recognized for the extensive work he has accomplished, such as most famously writing The Jungle. This dynamically contrasts the way Upton was viewed during his time. Although some viewed him as famous, his fame was controversial. Many denounced his religious and political views, and felt he was extremely unpatriotic. While reviewing several documents and periodicals from his time period, it was proven that many felt negatively towards Upton Sinclair and his beliefs.
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
In the early 1900’s America begin to transform rapidly. Many immigrants started moving to the United States in the early 1900’s with the hopes of living the “American Dream.” However, that glittering and gleaming American lifestyle is merely a distant ideal for the immigrants living in Packingtown, the meatpacking district of Chicago. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle portrays life through the eyes of a poor workingman struggling to survive in this cruel, tumultuous environment, where the desire for profit among the capitalist meatpacking bosses and the criminals makes the lives of the working class a nearly unendurable struggle for survival. The novel The Jungle is a hybrid of history, literature, and propaganda. Sinclair, a muckraking journalist of the early 1900s exposed to the nation an industry grounded by the principles of deceit and filth, and offered a new resolution to end this problem. The novel and its massive depiction of the grotesque and unsanitary conditions created an impetus for the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act (McCage 1) which transformed American lifestyle. The Jungle is notorious for exposing the grotesque and unsanitary conditions that existed in the meat packing industry; however, the novel’s purpose expands beyond this issue and reveals the disillusionment of the American dream, the evils of a capitalistic system, and a feasible plan to end corruption.
Although this book was written about the hardships of a family, it was not just a story for one to read and feel sympathy for the family, but it had many "real-life" reasons behind the events that went on and happened. Sinclair wanted to open the eyes of people and make them aware of what was going on, and ultimately, wanted to start a revolution to change the political system from capitalism to socialism.
Upton Sinclair’s often quoted remark about aiming for the heart and hitting the stomach definitely rings true when reading The Jungle. Most readers mistook it for another muckraking effort, on unsanitary conditions in the packinghouses. If Sinclair had not written the last three of four chapters of the book then it would have read much more like a social protest novel.
John Steinbeck lead a life filled with words, from his award winning novels to the hundreds letters he wrote to friends during his career. He was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902, and lived there for the first sixteen years of his life until he graduated from Salinas High School in 1918. He took classes at Stanford, but spent more of his college years working to pay tuition than then he spent in the classroom. 1924 brought his first publication, two short stories in the Standford Spectator, but in 1925 he left his schooling and went to New York for a time. By 1926, he was back in California and his first book, Cup of Gold, was published the year the of great stock market crash, but had little success. In 1930, he married Carol Henning, and the two lived in Pacific Grove, CA for the next several years. These years were lean; Steinbeck was having trouble selling his work, even with the help of his literary agents, McIntosh and Otis. Often, selling a short story for 50$ or so was the difference between eating or not.
An author depicts certain elements of a historical time period in his or her novel by incorporating literary elements. Upton Sinclair, the author of the novel ,The Jungle, was a Socialist who supported the rights of the working class in America’s economy. He lived during the time of the American Industrial Revolution when the lower class of the society were poverty-stricken while the upper class were wealthy and corrupt. He had observed the meat-packing factories of Chicago and incorporated the knowledge he had learned into his novel. In writing this novel, Sinclair’s goal was to expose the harsh conditions in American factories (“Upton Sinclair”). The novel takes place during the early 1900s in Chicago were a working immigrant man named Jurgis
Upton Sinclair was an American writer whose works reflects not only the inside but also the socialists view on things. Upton sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was born into a family which held to it’s Southern aristocracy in every thing that was done. When Sinclair was ten years old, the family packed up and moved to New York City ( Where there were more opportunities to succeed ).
Upton Sinclair was the most prolific writer in the history of America. He did most of his work focusing on how the politicians are corrupting the United States and how it will be made a better place; he also wanted political and social reform. The jungle was published in the 1906.it was a grim indication that led the government to a regulation of the food industry inspection.