The Jungle Synopsis

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair starts off with two main characters, Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite, who are having their wedding in Packingtown, Chicago. At the end of the reception, the couple discovered that they owe saloonkeeper money and Jurgis vowed that he will work harder to make more money. Juris and Ona migrated from Lithuania in hope for a better life, although they did not know what Packingtown consisted of. Packingtown is the center of Chicago’s meatpacking industry and it is difficult to find a job. Although Jurgis finds work quickly with Marija (Ona’s cousins) and Jonas (Ona’s Uncle).

The extended family buys a house that had hidden costs and that was poorly maintained which increased the living expenses. Due to the expenses, Ona and Stanislovas (Ona’s step sister) were forced to get jobs in Packingtown that involves hard labor and unsafe conditions. Eventually Dede (Jurgis’s father) is killed by the hard work that Packingtown placed upon him. Winter comes around and Jurgis is forced to work in an unheated slaughterhouse.

Marija meets a violinist named Tamoszius and they become an item. Despite their power of wanting to get married, they can’t do so due to the lack of money. Eventually Marija’s factory closes and she no longer has a job. At this time, Jurgis learns English to improve his lot. A few months later, Marija gets her job back but it fired when she argues that she is missing money out of her pay.

Ona becomes pregnant and going to work becomes even harder for her. Her supervisor and other girls at the factory become prostitutes. One gives birth to her son Antanas but is forced to go back to work 7 days after the birth.

Jurgis becomes hurt at the factory and is in bed for three months. While he is out f...

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...t only are they under paid but the work they do is back breaking, hard work. The wages they are paid wouldn’t be enough to cover a basic job. Thankfully today we have a set wage of the minimum people should be getting paid for.

Sinclair conceived The Jungle as a Socialist novel. The plights of the novel's protagonists demonstrate the evils and corruption of unrestrained capitalist economies. Jurgis and Ona Rudkus, as well as their immigrant friends and family, live in dire poverty. Their lives are at risk when they go to work, if they are able to find work. These conditions are the result of a company that seeks to maximize the speed and efficiency of labor with no regard to how such methods of production affect the lives of workers. The novel is a sustained argument that workers must gather collectively in order to assure rights and dignity for all individuals

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