The American Dream In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

I have a 1st edition copy of "The Jungle" written by Upton Sinclair and published by Doubleday & Page in 1906. The book binding is very solid. The hard cover is in good shape with some wear on the white detailing on the cover and spine.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair follows the life of Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus and his family living in Chicago. Jurgis finds work at Brown's slaughterhouse and there he endures harsh working conditions as well as his family members. Ultimately he and family suffer many tragedies related to their work environments. While this book is a work of fiction it mirrors real life. The Jungle was published in 1906 during the Gilded Age.

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is an American novel classic. This book provides a lens into the life of 20th century immigrants working in poor conditions throughout industrialization. Sinclair set out to expose the harsh conditions that these poor immigrants had to live in. By doing so, he wanted to show that not only was the meatpacking industry vile, but also wanted to show that capitalism doesn’t work.

When Upton Sinclair wrote the Jungle, a book about the terrible environment of the meat-packing factories in Chicago, he hoped to motivate reform in immigrant working conditions and promote socialism. Instead, what shocked readers the most was the sordid surroundings in which their future meals were prepared. Sinclair 's audience saw these conditions as a threat to themselves, and that energized reform in the meat-packing industry. What scared audiences the most was how real this threat was to their lives. As can be witnessed in the results of Sinclair 's crusade, the most effective propaganda is that which rouses the visceral survival instinct.

The thesis of this review mainly consists of the issue with the school use of Upton Sinclairs’s “The Jungle”. The relevance with the book is that within this review there is a negative critique on how it is described to the students in the classroom. The author of this review, Louise Carroll Wade, argues that teachers have been kind to Sinclair. She explains that this novel was made to “call attention to the plight of Chicago packinghouse workers who had just lost a strike against the Beef Trust”. Also, she express her idea of how scholars have uncritically accepted Upton Sinclair's descriptions of the terrifying working and unsanitary conditions of the Chicago meat packing industry in 'The Jungle”, where in reality it was more skeptical.

Title and Author: The Jungle , Upton Sinclair Genre: Historical Novel Date Published: February 26 , 1906 , Historical Connections: The Jungle is connected to a group of journalist who were active in The Progressive Era which took place from the 1890s to the 1920s. Upton Sinclair was a muckraker which was a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt this term is used to describe an investigative journalist. These journalist exposed problems in factories and businesses. Protagonist Jurgis Rudkus is an immigrant from Lithuania.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, is set in Chicago in the early 1900’s, during the height of social reform known as the Progressive era. The population of Chicago had grown substantially, from 29,000 in 1850 to 1.7million in 1900, due to the influx of immigrants in search of the “American dream”. America was the destination of all in search of freedom, equality and higher wages. The dream promised success in exchange for hard work, determination and morality. The reality was that the “American dream” was just an illusion.

In 1878, Upton Sinclair was born, an advocate writer that changed the meat packing industry forever. He was born in Maryland to an alcoholic father and headstrong mother. From birth he was exposed to dichotomies that would affect his mind at an early age. Sinclair was raised on the edge of poverty and would often visit his mother 's wealthy family. At age 14, Sinclair attended the City College of New York.

Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle depicted many disturbing social injustices immigrants had to endure at the time during the 19th century. Jurgis and his family moved to America in search of a better life, but upon arrival the harsh reality set in that America was not what everyone said it to be. They suffered many hardships. The working conditions, when they could find employment, were terrible. They battled discrimination, they were grossly taken advantage of, and survival from day to day in Packingtown slowly worked to deteriorate their faith.

One of the problems that the people faced was working in dangerous and unsanitary work conditions. In the early 20th century many meatpacking industry 's were unsanitary and dangerous. Upton Sinclair, a young socialist journalist and novelist, spent weeks investigating the topic in Chicago. Once Upton uncovered these appalling facts he soon later

In early 1900, specifically, 1906, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written. This novel told the story of a Lithuanian immigrant who worked in a filthy Chicago meatpacking plant. It exposed the meatpacking industry by stating their vile practices not only towards their meat but their workers as well. This was a result of the combination of many immigrants in the United States to pursue a better life, and the fact that many big industries were looking for ways to maximize their profit.

The Bosses squeezed and drained the life of those men. In the book The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair he described the life of a struggling family try to work and stay alive in the filth. The working conditions in the factories were unsafe, unsanitary and people made little. The purpose of this book was for people to become socialist other than capitalist.

A Time for Struggle and Change Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, depicts the struggles of Lithuanian immigrants as they worked and lived in Chicago’s Packingtown at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The United States experienced an enormous social and political transformation; furthermore, the economy, factories, and transportation industry grew faster than anyone had ever seen. Immigrants and migrants were attracted to city life for its promise of employment and their chance at the American Dream. The poor working class had little to no rights, and they grappled with unfair business practices, unsafe working conditions, racism, Social Darwinism, class segregation, xenophobia, political corruption, strikes, starvation, poor housing,

The American Dream; an ideal that led thousands of immigrants to the United States with optimism to begin a new life. The Jungle is a novel, written by Upton Sinclair, that follows the journey of a young man named Jurgis as he chases after the idea of the American Dream. Jurgis and his family set out determined to create a new life filled with opportunity. However, experience will soon teach them The American Dream led them to a world filled with prejudice and exploitation; rather than opportunity and equality. It was love at first sight for Jurgis Rudkus when he saw Ona Lukoszaite for the first time at a horse sale in Lithuania.

The American Dream, the idea that lures in thousands of foreigners into the Uniteds States yearly. The hopes of second chances, profound prosperity, success by hard work and new beginnings. In the Grapes of Wrath by John Stainflied and The jungle by Uptown Sinclair, both families in t his book are not exception. Soon, these immigrants learn the disastrous effects of being “ lower class” under the rich, the government and the landowners. Both themes___ the idea that the most damage was not done by those of authority, but in reality the most damage both families suffered was their own inclination to exploit one another and corrupt themselves in time of difficulty.