The Role Of Socialism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

“You don't have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it.” (Sinclair). We look around the world in which we live, and based on the moral decline surrounding us, we are dissatisfied. Racism and sexism race throughout our cities; moral relativity without absolutes reigns king of confusion; selfish decisions destroy the lives of innocent people around us. A world similar to ours is what Upton Sinclair viewed around him. It was this disgust with the failures of humanity that spurred his decision to change the world, and he sought to do this through his novel, The Jungle. Sinclair intended to fix the world through Socialism and utilitarianism; yet closer looks show that socialistic views of utilitarianism has caused

The Jungle vents the often overlooked trials and baffling tribulations of Lithuanian newcomers. Upton Sinclair, a well known political activist for the Socialist party writes this story as a glance into the events happening during his life-span. At the time of The Jungle's publication, Sinclair was twenty-eight years old, and he used the profits from his book to run for Congress. During this time, many things were happening in America: the Industrial Age was at its peak; child labor was running rampant; immigration through Ellis Island boomed; and the Communist witch hunt began. These time-markers are viewed through the lens of the setting, the industrialized city of Chicago. The summary of The Jungle is one of a depressed and deceived Lithuanian man. Overall, The Jungle is a book which reflects the frenzied fight for survival in a new land. The Lithuanian people, along with many others, had come to America under the presupposition of a better life. Instead of finding happiness, freedom, and glorious wealth, they found disease, injustice, and meaningless

The bluntness in which The Jungle tells its woes is its strength, yet also its weakness. To sum up in a single word, this book is depressing; it shows the selfishness of mankind, the racial discrimination, and the willingness to benefit at the expense of others. These ethical issues, and many others, run rampant through The Jungle. Because of the selfish nature so common in all people, only a few of the characters survive in their tragic life. Jurgis, Teta Elzbeita, Marija, and a few children are the only survivors of a once-large and happy family. In poverty, possession of any food was difficult, especially possession of healthy food. Antanas, Jurgis' son, died in a freak-drowning accident, and his mother died in her second childbirth. Two of Teta Elzbeita's children died from eating contaminated meat, another from being eaten by rats. Dede Antanas, Jurgis' father, died because the chemicals he worked with ate away his clothing, and worked their way into his shoes, eventually destroying his feet. “Then, too, a still more dreadful thing happened to him; he worked in a place where his feet were soaked with chemicals, and it was not long before they had eaten through his new boots. Then sores began to break out on his feet ... he learned that it was a regular thing-- it was the saltpeter."