The Jungle Upton Sinclaire essays

The Jungle Upton Sinclaire essays Upton Sinclairs The Jungle takes place in Packingtown, an area of Chicago, around the turn of the 20th century. This book takes an intimate look at an immigrant family facing the hardships of a laborers life, trying to fight the hollowness of the American Dream, how capitalism essentially breaks a family apart. The main goal of The Jungle is to exploit capitalist world and try to persuade the reader that socialism is the way out of the evils of capitalism. This book also uncovered the dangerous and unsanitary conditions of the meat packing plants that sold diseased and rotten meat to unsuspected customers, which led to various acts to guarantee sanitary conditions. Upton Sinclair uses a naive Lithuanian immigrant family in this novel to reveal the troubles and difficulties they have when they come to American expecting high wages and a good life. The hypocrisy of the American Dream is exposed and they find themselves in a land of exploitation and prejudice. Corruption, which is portrayed as a direct result of capitalism, is a main theme throughout the book. Jurgis family quickly finds out that laws are not enforced, politicians are out for their own gain, and salesman lie about their merchandise. Instead of hard work and morality, the family finds a world where people try to get ahead by taking advantage of the innocent and unwary. When buying their first house, there were countless hidden costs and fees they did not know about. The family becomes subject to swindles, manipulation and rape by a boss, not what they subscribed to. At the end, Jurgis realizes that capitalism is brutal, inhuman, and unjust. It leads to the destruction of children and the break down of family values and traditions. The only hope for a better life is socialism. Socialism is portrayed to benefit everyone, to fulfill morality, and restore humanity to the working class. Throughout the course of reading this book, I was forced ...