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The Jungle By Upton Sinclair: A Timeless Classic
The Jungle, a timeless piece made famous by its gruesome yet addictive content, is considered a nationwide classic. With background from the vintage, appalling, meatpacking industry, the novel provides a first hand view of what went on in the early 1900s in the meat packing industry. The purpose of this novel wasn’t meant to gross the reader out, it was meant to enlighten the reader with knowledge on what was occurring throughout the meat industry, and it was meant to show how the capitalist system exploited immigrants searching for jobs. Upton Sinclair wanted to start a movement, a movement to open the eyes of the American citizens by showing them the foulness of the capitalist system. The reason behind the text might seem dull and pessimistic due to its depressing content, but it was a text written in hope for reform. In writing this, Upton Sinclair wanted to protect those being forced to work in the gruesome meat packing industry and wanted to expose those companies that took part in the gruesome work of meatpacking.
Sinclair made great points and provided great examples of the events in which were taking place. He consistently showed how the meat packing industry was corrupt and how it was a dreadful area to work in. As he stated in the book, “It is an elemental odor, raw and crude; it is rich, almost rancid, sensual and strong.” Not only does this describe one small section in the book, but also it carried forward to the general meaning of the book and it strengthens the argument that Sinclair is trying to make. The novel is easy to read because of the powerful images it plants in the reader’s head. The shocking images implanted into the minds of the reader make it hard to forget and easy to understand the author’s message, which was to show how Packingtown, in Chicago, was a place of misery due to the struggles it provided immigrants looking for jobs with. Throughout the text, there are many quotes showing that Upton Sinclair had to have spent time on his own, researching the meatpacking factories himself. For example, his quote, “They use everything from the hog, except the squeal.” This quote shows that Upton Sinclair had to have been on the scene while the meat processing was being done. Without being there on sight, which would consider Upton Sinclair a primary source, there would be no possible way to tell if the events taking place are true. In short, Upton Sinclair being on the scene of the meatpacking factories would make him a primary source for the novel.
The piece written by Upton Sinclair would be considered an easy read because of the author’s simple yet effective sentence structure. Upton Sinclair’s descriptive text helps the reader to understand and take in all the information provided throughout The Jungle. Although the book is considered to be a high vocabulary piece, it is not difficult to take in the meaning behind the wordy text. For example Upton Sinclair’s word choice in the following quote shows that he used a high vocabulary in his writing, “Jurgis could see all the truth now-could see himself through the whole long course of events, the victim of ravenous vultures that had torn his vitals and devoured him; of fiends that had racked and tortured him, mocking him, meantime, jeering in his face.” This language is used all throughout the book, but it is still easy to understand the general message of the text. The book has a good flow that goes explains the main idea with ease, everything about The Jungle makes it easy for any reader to fathom.
Throughout the writing, the bias of The Jungle is generally unknown. There is a small amount of weight pulling towards the socialist cause. This can be seen all throughout the book especially when Jurgis, the main character, falls upon a socialist meeting that would end up changing his life. The way that the socialist movement changed his life would go on the show that the bias of the novel was for the socialist party and against the capitalistic party. Furthermore, Upton Sinclair made it clear that he wanted to exploit the capitalist system against immigrants all throughout the book. With every line written, there is background that supports the message he is trying to send. Sinclair chose to expose the abuse found all throughout the meatpacking industry, and it resulted in a political outbreak. This would go on to have the government form new laws for the quality and healthiness of the food integrated in our very own grocery stores today. The fact that this novel changed government laws goes to show that the novel delivered its message in a powerful way from start to finish. Upton Sinclair, a Columbia University graduate, whose lifelong dream it was to become an author with a voice. His most famous piece, The Jungle was written based off of first hand experiences that Upton Sinclair had after visiting Chicago’s meatpacking companies. From this firsthand knowledge one could conclude that his observations and points that were made were accurate and to the point. The novel itself is considered to be one of the most informative pieces of writing due to the shocking messages that it sends. As a result of this novel came the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, brought forward by Theodore Roosevelt himself. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was one of the most impactful novels written in American History.
References
- Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (New York, NY: Barnes and Noble Books, 2006), 38. Biography, Upton Sinclair Biography (New York City, NY: A&E Television Networks, 2017.)
