Capitalism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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What do you think that immigrants go through to achieve the American Dream? In Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, it’s not easy. The jobs are awful and hard to come by, the employers don’t care about you because there’s always another guy waiting for your job, and everyone wants to take advantage of you because you don’t know any better. These are all forms of the evils of capitalism, and they are just some of the obstacle that immigrants face when coming to America in search of a better life.
One of the ways that Upton Sinclair addresses the problem of capitalism in The Jungle is through the struggle of obtaining jobs and the sacrifices that come with them. And while Jurgis is having a very difficult time finding work, he is not the only one that is having this problem. This is first …show more content…
The best example of this is when he “buys” a house, but is not told about all the hidden expenses of home ownership, and ends up losing his house while he is imprisoned. “The family had moved; they had not been able to pay the rent and had been turned out in the snow, and the house had been repainted and sold again the next week” (171). Because of Jurgis’ absence due to prison, the family had not been able to afford the rent, and had been kicked out onto the streets. The house was re ”sold” as new after getting repainted, and now another immigrant family lives there, under the impression that there were no previous owners. “Yes; it had been gray and now it was yellow! The trimmings around the windows had been red, and now they were green! It was all newly painted!” (170). Jurgis is shocked when he finds out that the seller takes advantage of not only him, but all immigrants that are foolish enough to believe him. The evils of capitalism are present throughout The Jungle, especially in the way that not only immigrants are treated, but animals,
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