The effects of Corruption and Capitalism

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The American Dream is characterized by the ideals of liberty, opportunity, and contentment. When an individual thinks of achieving the American Dream, they only see the light at the end of the tunnel and not the struggles that come with it. In the political fiction novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair portrays the effects of corruption and capitalism on the world. Sinclair does so by showing how depraved the capitalist government can be and how tremendously this affects the lives of the innocent. Three Lithuanian Immigrants by the names of Jurgis Rudkas, Teta Elzbieta Lukoszaite, and Ona Lukoszaite, migrate with their relatives to Chicago in hopes of living a poverty free life. It is common for immigrants who migrate to the United States to want to do so as a means of finding a better home lifestyle than the one they are already in. In the workplace, Capitalism serves as the stem of problems for these immigrants thereby causing a great deal of corruption. Throughout The Jungle, Jurgis, Teta, and Ona face various obstacles on behalf of this corruption, preventing their family from reaching the American Dream with ease.

To begin with, Jurgis Rudkas migrates to the United States in hopes of finding the American Dream but faces a number of obstacles in doing so. He is brilliant and extremely hard working but with his lack of money, he faces a great deal of poverty. Jurgis additionally witnesses corruption within the businesses he works at as well as in the government. This significantly hinders his chances of reaching the American Dream. Throughout The Jungle, Jurgis runs into many obstacles, including poverty and corruption. These two factors reduce his chances of finding the American Dream. In trying to maintain a well-paying job an...

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...to a heartbreaking end for the family.

In essence, capitalism and corruption both play a central role in addressing the theme of The Jungle is expressed through capitalism and corruption. These factors hinder the lives of immigrants Jurgis Rudkas, Teta Elzbieta Lukoszaite, and Ona Lukoszaite as they migrate from Lithuania to Chicago in hopes of finding the perfect American Dream. They do this not just for themselves, but also for the rest of their family members who are working together to achieve the same goal. In doing so, they face a number of struggles that either sets them back The American Dream is characterized by both freedom and the opportunity for prosperity, much of which Jurgis, Teta, and Ona struggled to obtain. Many migrate with hopes of reaching such goals, but not all find it with the overwhelming amount of capitalism and corruption in the way.

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