The American Dream In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Words: 787
Pages: 4
Open Document
In Upton Sinclairs The Jungle we are forced to see the sturggles of a Lithuanian family as they try so desperatly to achieve the "American Dream" while leaving the country and people they knew behind. They entered a world that was painted over as a life of modern homes with fenced yards and happy little families with plastered on smiles standing in the window. They failed to peel back the paint and to see beyond the fake smiles at all the struggles and death they would face as there American dream shifted to a fight of pure survival embeded with the author's own views of the Socialist party twisted and hinted in through out the book. Starting off in the begining we are put in a time of joy and happiness as some of the main characters, Jurgis …show more content…
In the factory walls they imagined and though for just a brief second they would conquer this jungle of a world which was now there new home. Unfortunately reality has a way of rearing it's ugly head when walking two miles each way to work, fourteen plus hours a day doing back breaking labor for less than two dollars a day becomes your new normal. They tried for as long as they could to hold out the hope of a brighter tomorrow but the winter still came and the kids were still hungry and no job was ever safe or promised so they soon acknowledged the fate that this was all they would ever become. Nothing more no matter how hard they tried (pg. 155). It was also soon found out that justice was something you didn't get unless you had two things: money and power not even if your wife let a man take advantage of her on the promise that this would make it better(pg. 167-169). Jurgis fights so hard to give his family a fighting chance but in his pursuit of this "American Dream" it slips right through his fingers and he turns to a life on his own leaving the city and finding his freedom in the country where he can push aside his memories and focus on just himself all the while spending the money he was once using to build his dreams on the posion drink which he tried to use to fill the void that was now his
Show More

Related Documents: The American Dream In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

the jungle related to socialism Essay

Beyer 1 Timothy Beyer Mr. Forde 20 May 2014 American Literature Period B Balance of Power Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, published in 1906, brought to life to promote the riches of life under socialism where people owned and worked the earth in harmony. Exposing the life of an immigrant worker in a Chicago meatpacking plant that shocked the entire nation to the safety and labor practices in the rapidly growing business in a new nation of immigrants. “Socialism was the proper vehicle for…

Words 915 - Pages 4

Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair was a leading “muckraker,” a group of early twentieth-century American journalists and writers who sought to initiate reforms by exposing social and political excesses and abuses, and The Jungle is one of the best-known pieces of the muckraker movement. Variously admired and excoriated by critics, the novel is responsible for bringing to light the appalling working and sanitary conditions of Chicago's slaughterhouses. Plot and Major Characters: The Jungle…

Words 546 - Pages 3

Social Class In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

In the late 19th century, a tremendous mass of immigrants migrated to the United States, in order to fulfill the American dream. Those that immigrated, which mainly consisted of: Slovakians, Polish, and Lithuanians, illusioned a dream that involved creating a rich lifestyle for their family, seeking new opportunities, and having a sense of freedom. In reality, life was filled with scammers, low-paying jobs, unsanitized food, and a corrupted society. Sinclair stated, in the novel, “ The great corporation…

Words 1189 - Pages 5

Upton Sinclair's Contribution To Literature And Social Reform

Upton Sinclair's book “The Jungle” is a vivid portrait that exposes the appalling working conditions and the way American meat packing factories operated at the turn of the 20th century. It’s a grim look at life in the past that led to the federal government stepping in and making new regulations for the food industry, still in place today. It is Sinclair's remarkable contribution to literature and social reform that made this possible. This is one of the most impactful books on American history…

Words 280 - Pages 2

Alcoholism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

all greatly affected the characters in Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel, The Jungle. Those three elements shaped the story and the lives of Jurgis, Ona, and Marija. The main protagonist, Jurgis, was troubled by the struggles and hardships of an immigrant trying to live the american dream. When the family first arrived in Chicago they were too poor to live in a house, so the Lithuanians cramped all of their family in small tenements. Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, describes how alcoholism, poverty and…

Words 523 - Pages 3

Review Of Upton Sinclair's Novel 'The Jungle'

Upton Sinclair remarked about his famous novel exposing the horrors of the meat-packing industry, “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit in the stomach.” Sinclair began his writing career when he left college without a degree to live in a cabin in the woods to pursue his dreams of writing an idealistic novel. In 1902, Sinclair joined the Socialist Party and viewed its ideals as a more inviting alternative than the horrors of American capitalism (Commentary on Upton Sinclair, 1999)…

Words 520 - Pages 3

Who Is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle?

heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” This is one of the most famous statements in the 20th century by Upton Sinclair during the Industrial Revolution. The Jungle written by a socialist called Upton Sinclair. He took the book to the major publishers, but he was rejected because it was too shocking and depressing, so Upton Sinclair published it himself. He wrote “The Jungle” to raise sympathy for the fight of the workers being exploited by the capitalist system in the late 19th and early…

Words 827 - Pages 4

Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

“The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair was written during the Progressive Era, 1890-1920, and declared Sinclair as a Progressive writer. Writers like himself sought to bring light to the United States’ economic problems through education, rather than excusing them with Social Darwinism. As the Industrial Revolution ended with a shift in the United States’ economy, workplace conditions adversely got worse while corporations and factory owners gradually became more wealthy. The wealthier the owners, the more…

Words 564 - Pages 3

The Jungle Essay

Allie Longo History Prof. Patterson 14 April, 2013 The Jungle The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is an integral piece of modern literature. The title is meant to reflect the Darwinian Jungle, how the strong prey on the weak and how all living things are engaged in a brutal fight for survival. “Social Darwinism was an idea used by some nineteenth-century thinkers to justify the abuses of wealthy capitalists.” This idea stated that society was designed to reward the most successful people, while…

Words 1173 - Pages 5

Capitalism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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…

Words 865 - Pages 4