Reflection On The Life On Jurgis Rudkus In The 1865-1910

CHANGES IN THE 1865-1910

Reflection on the life on Jurgis Rudkus

During the period of 1865-1910, the United States had a tremendous change in which people were affected differently. These major disruptions affected the economy, politics and social lives of people. The novel, “The Jungle” will be referenced to frequently in order to analyze the lifestyle of Jurgis Rudkus in relation to what an individual may have endured during this time. This time period reflects the Reconstruction, Gilded Age and Progressive Era. People like Jurgis are not exactly free because they are faced with political corruption, and terrible working and living conditions which limited their freedom.

It was harder for people who possessed labor-like jobs to be successful and have a voice within the political world. The government knew

For most, if that meant living in the slums represented that they worked a low-wage paying job and could not afford better living. The slums for set up specifically for these kind of people, they were all associated in one area. In “Jungle Book” some of the lifestyle living condiitons were described as “two bunks, one above the other, each with a straw mattress and a pair of gray blankets—the latter stiff as boards with filth, and alive with fleas, bedbugs, and lice. When Jurgis lifted up the mattress he discovered beneath it a layer of scurrying roaches, almost as badly frightened as himself” (Sin Clair,172). The people who lived in bad living conditions did not have much of a choice because they could only afford so much. These houses were just quickly built all at once to provide “housing” for people. Sin Clair does a great job at describing the living conditions as thy were in the Gilded Age. During the Gilded Age the concept of Social Darwinism was popular. Believing that “survival of the fittest” was the reason for keeping the poor poorer and the rich