Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

Words: 546
Pages: 3

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 established Sinclair as a leading social critic. At the request of Isaac Marcosson, a reformative editor and publisher, Sinclair spent seven weeks investigating the Packingtown district of Chicago, where he observed the living and working conditions of the meat-packing industry and talked intimately with workers. His goal was to write a tract for socialism as well as a romantic exposé of the betrayal of the American dream by
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Disappointingly for Sinclair, the novel resulted in little improvement of workers' conditions or the poverty of their families. At the book's publication, however, hopes were high that Sinclair's exposure of the brutal realities of working-class life would bring about genuine social and political change. Jack London wrote: “[What] Uncle Tom's Cabin did for black slaves, The Jungle has a large chance to do for the wage-slaves of today.” From a literary standpoint, The Jungle employs stark naturalism. Jurgis moves his family from Lithuania to Chicago expecting to achieve the American dream; instead, their life becomes a nightmare of toil, poverty, and death. Through Jurgis's story Sinclair delivers a striking indictment of capitalism and free market