Wasteland of Opportunity Upton Sinclair penned The Jungle in 1905. It is the story of Jurgis Rudkus from Lithuania (62), who along with his family, came to America seeking prosperity (64). Along this journey they will encounter every conceivable hardship. They end up arriving in the stockyards of Chicago, a place termed “Packingtown” (70). Yet even though Sinclair uses the “metaphor, ‘jungle’ (denoting) the ferocity of dog-eat-dog competition, the barbarity of exploitative work, wilderness of urban life” (Phelps 1).The title The Jungle was not an effective title for this quintessential piece. The stockyards were only vaguely reminiscent of a jungle. So what aspects, characteristics, are found within a jungle? It is the life, color, sounds and smells that make up a jungle. There is a plethora of life to be found within a jungle. There are vibrant colors, melodic sounds and fragrant smells that signify the environment one thinks of when picturing a jungle. It is these traits that are void in The Jungle. Packingtown is a wasteland, in stark contrast to the image the title referring to a jungle evokes. Jungles are green and full of life, yet there is not “any green thing whatever, in Packingtown” (68). In a jungle there is a wide array of multiple hues and contrasts of …show more content…
There are some areas that are not shown to visitors, such as the fertilizer rooms and the men who work there “for the odor of a fertilizer man would scare any ordinary visitor at a hundred yards (134). The smells of a fertilizer man are so intense that while sitting at the dinner table the stench would cling to the food and “set the whole family to vomiting” (163). The aromas throughout Packingtown are nothing akin to the bountiful flowers and sweet tasting smells found in a jungle. The stockyard aromas are not in harmony with Sinclair’s title. The smells are that of desolation and despair brought upon by the predators that trolled all over
Upton Sinclair’s childhood and era that he lived in had a significant influence on how he viewed the meatpacking industry and his writing of the Jungle. Sinclair’s novel gave a unique perspective using metaphors, sensory imagery, and naturalism to give readers a sense of what being in the factory was really like to those who have read the book.
There are obvious correlations Sinclair made between the workers of Packingtown and the animals in the stockyards alluding to the idea that both would fall prey to large, capitalist machines, be that the meat grinder or capitalism itself. However, some of the symbolism I enjoyed involved the house Jurgis 's family attempted to buy. The house they attempt to buy may look pleasing to the eye on the outside, just like the cans of meat from Packingtown, however the inside of the cans and the materials used to build the houses were not fit to be used for such a purpose. In this novel, capitalism sells you "lies with shiny exteriors" while the bureaucracy profits from the ignorance of the desperate and unknowing
In the book, The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, the underlying statement Sinclair tries to reveal the corrupt nature of the city of Chicago and the meat packing industry, which has been lead by beasts that pull along the week and ignorant to take advantage of them at whatever chance they get, which ultimately leads to a city of conflict and turmoil with the immigrants as its prey. While it may seem that a person's conflicts is influenced by others’ actions in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, The situations a person places themselves in, can cause external and internal conflict, which can ultimately influence the actions and morality of a person’s choices that determines the outcome of their life.
Written by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle explores the sheer, harsh conditions of the living and working environment in the Chicago stockyards. The title is significant because it represents the realities of the labor force and depicts a wild, brutal environment that benefited the wealthy, while leaving the inferior working class fighting to survive. In Particular, the The Jungle denotes the life of Jurgis and his family in Packingtown and their hardships they face in the Chicago stockyards. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle has a significant title because through corruption and capitalism, the weak and poor suffer, while the strong and wealthy flourish.
The Jungle is a novel that focuses on a family of immigrants who came to America looking for a better life. The novel was written by Upton Sinclair, who went into the Chicago stockyards to investigate what life was like for the people who worked there. The book was originally written with the intent of showing Socialism as a better option than Capitalism for the society. However, the details of the story ended up launching a government investigation of the meat packing plants, and ultimately regulation of food products. It gave an informative view of what life was like in America at the time. Important topics like immigration, working conditions and sanitation issues of the time were all addressed well in the novel.
In the early 20th Century millions of immigrants, bringing various cultures and vital traditions, flooded to the United States to live the “American Dream.” Immigration shaped America into the country it is today. Most of the early American citizens were documented immigrants from all over the world who persevered through long boat rides and other difficulties such as obtaining visas and green cards to get a job and earn citizenship in the “Promised Land.” Now some state governments are ignoring legal policies and offering safe havens, or sanctuaries, for undocumented immigrants to live and work illegally. This upsets people who think these undocumented workers and their families are taking jobs and financial
Would you prefer vacationing in a dense jungle or a scorching hot desert? Thankfully, I have had the privilege to do both. Over the past year, I have traveled to the beautiful rainforests of Costa Rica and the barren wilderness of Bonaire. By studying the parallels and differences of both destinations, one has the ability to understand the travel expectations, habitats, and activities of Costa Rica and Bonaire.
This is my biome project I picked the Rainforest because I like the animals in the forest like lizards, birds, sloths and jaguars.Also I like the plants in the Rainforest because they are cool and colorful and here are some flowers that are in the Rainforests like the lilies, heliconia and the bromeliads.
What are the major issues Sinclair addresses in The Jungle? The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a vivid account of life for the working class in the early 1900s. Jurgis Rudkus and his family travel to the United States in search of the American dream and an escape from the rigid social structure of Lithuania. Instead, they find a myriad of new challenges.
The air is heavy with humidity, and the trees coat the hills thicker than a winter blanket. The green that canopies around you is so vivid that you could easily forget the color of the sky. Thousands of noises crash around you, completely overwhelming your senses. The rainforest you’re imaging seems to have its own personality. Now imagine you’re back in the safety of your home. Everything seems to be completely normal until out of nowhere, your house is being destroyed by a force much greater than you. The fear you feel inside seems to suffocate you. This is the life of those that inhabit the rainforest. At one point in time, the rainforest represented life and rebirth, but the world we live in today has transformed it into a place of death and destruction. For many years, the United States has used nature in graphic advertisements to “tug the heartstrings” of many Americans. The ad by Sanctuary Asia uses gore in a natural environment to show the affects the cruelness of human touch has had on the rainforests of the world.
The rainforest is full of forests and trees, dripping with water, hence the name.There are swampy parts and there are very few plants that can survive under the canopy layer. The rainforest can be found in between the tropic of Capricorn and the tropic of Cancer. It appears only on 6% of the Earth’s surface and around the equator. The largest rainforest today is the Amazon Rainforest is 2.1 million miles and would rank the 9th if it was a country. There is no fertile soil because it is washed out with rain. The first layer is the ground layer and is filled with bugs and a few plants. Next comes the lower layer and then the understory. Following is the canopy and that is which most lives thrives. It can release about 200 gallons of water a year. Then the emergent layer is where the sunlight is the most.
What is a rainforest? A rainforest is a dense forest rich in biodiversity, found close to the equator in tropical areas, and can have up to an inch of rain a day. Rainforest are found in countries you might not believe like Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. Rainforest are found between the Tropic of cancer and The Tropic of Capricorn. Biodiversity in rainforest is extremely high and rich. Biodiversity is the name for all living things—like plants, animals and fungi—found in an ecosystem. I have always wanted to travel to a Rainforest. I love the warm, humid weather that pairs perfectly with awesome waves. Rainforests are beautiful, tropical environments, filled with interesting weather, strange
The rainforest is a very tropical region. It is full of water and many exotic plants and animals. This making the climate very humid and clearly rainy. Though the rainforest is next to the equator making it very hot, it receives about 80 inches of rain per year. Though with the rain, on average the rainforest starts around 80 degrees and rises throughout the day. These factors, the rain and high temperatures, are what makes the rainforest so humid. They’re located in a few different continents. Them being, Africa around Madagascar and scattered islands, Australia near New Guinea and other Pacific Islands as well as, Asia, Southeast Asia near Indomalayan, India and, Sri Lanka, in South America Neotropical and lastly, in West Africa . This placing
Traveling south across the forests below, and hopefully for the last time, cause me to instantly relive my first trip north across the rain forests of Kalimantan. I can still remember the thrill the first time I soared across this island called Borneo. The forests and mountains were breathtaking and within a few hours I would enter a world that is as miraculous and as it is mysterious. The unimaginable species of flora and fauna, the wonders and dangers of the jungle, and the secrets of a primitive people being lost as they evolve into a modern society are just a few of the countless thoughts that filled my mind. But now my mind darts between regret and relief as hectare after hectare of forest disappear from my view. The last seven months are as an eternity; a life lived and forgotten and now replaced with a new one. Only a few more hours and I will be returning to the world I know. What I once thought as excessive and pretentious is now a world of opportunity and fortune. How fickle and near-sighted, or maybe just naïve and spoiled I was, and probably still am. However, amidst all this uncertainty of past, present, and future, I feel at peace, or maybe just relieved."
As child, I was always fascinated by the forest .I dreamed of it and longed to see it. I was born in a small town call Toumodi , in the center of Ivory coast, west Africa. At the age of two,my older sister me to Abidjan, the politic capital of the Ivory coast.At the age of seven, I felt torn between my love for nature and my desire to pursue a writing career.Then I found a way to combine both.