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Aaron Perry
AP Lit & Comp.
Mr. Oravec
29 November 2012
Literary Analysis of The Jungle
“In a society dominated by the fact of commercial competition, money is necessarily the
test of prowess, and wastefulness the sole criterion of power.” (Sinclair 403).
Capitalism is an economic system in which businesses are privately ran by small amounts
of people, while large amounts of people work under them. Many people believe that Capitalism
is the right way to go and is a system that will never fail, but there was a time in which a new
economic system rose to challenge Capitalism, and it was Socialism.
The Jungle was Sinclair’s attempt to poke at the evils of capitalism and the corruption
that followed with the use of satire The novel reflects on a Lithuanian immigrant, coming to
America in hopes of living the American Dream, (but instead learns just how corrupt capitalism
is through the meatpacking industry in Chicago.) With the use of theme, motifs, symbolism,
tone, structure, setting, irony, and characters, Sinclair attempts to inform the reader of his
economic views in a satirical manner, but this backfires on him.
Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20, 1878 to a drunken father,
and a strict mother. While he was only five years old, he had developed a love for reading, which
later influenced his interest in writing. However, at a young age, he lived two separate lives; one
with his wealthy grandparents and one with his extremely poor parents. Living under these two
conditions probably sparked his interest in socialism, the main issue in his novel The Jungle.
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After studying for a time in college, Sinclair had met Leonard Abbott, who was a
socialist. Abbott advised Sinclair to start reading novels concerning socialism. Taking his advice,
Sinclair followed his instruction and became interested in Socialism. In 1904, while working for
a socialist journey, Sinclair worked for seven weeks in a Chicago meatpacking plant in order to
expose the injustice of capitalism. “He experienced the conditions of the neighborhood, the
nature of the work, and the consequences of both on the human beings, many of whom happened
to be Lithuanian.” (Upton Sinclair, 2006) Sinclair uses his knowledge earned while working
with the Lithuanian immigrants and puts them into the main character Jurgis. Allowing Sinclair
to tell the story of the many Lithuanian’s hardships faced while working at the meatpacking
plants. This seven-week undercover job inspired the setting and characters portrayed by Sinclair
in his novel.
The novel depicts the life of a common immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, who recently arrives
in Packingtown – Chicago, Illinois with hopes of being able to make a living for himself and his
family. Soon after getting married in a pub, he and his wife Ona Lukoszaite discover that they
are already in massive debt. This prompts Jurgis to believe that with hard work, he will be able
to make solve their problems. Things seem to be heading in the right direction for Jurgis and his
family as they find jobs and are able to purchase a small house, only to find out that they are
swindled out of their promised house. Things only get worse, as two of Jurgis’ family members
die, and one of them runs away. After getting into an altercation with Phil Connor (the boss of
Ona) for forcing her to sleep with him, Jurgis is sent to jail for a month. Following his release,
he finds his wife in the middle of labor, and witnesses the death of their second unborn child and
her.
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Jurgis himself runs away until his mother in law convinces him to return to his family.
Everything goes well until Jurgis’ only son drowns, causing him to disappear once more. After
becoming a beggar, Jurgis once again is arrested and jailed after he is swindled out of $100.
After his release, he is once again is arrested for having another altercation with Connor. All out
of luck, Jurgis wanders through a Socialist rally and happens to listen in on the speaker. Moved
by the speech, he converts to Socialism and quickly finds a decent job. He reunites with his
surviving family members and begins to attend Socialist rallies, becoming inspired by the words
that fill him with a newfound hope.
The Jungle takes place in Packingtown - Chicago, Illinois during the 1900’s. It is during
this time when Packingtown was the center of the meatpacking industry and the center of
immigration. The reason for this being that many immigrants had come in search of a well
paying job in order to live the American Dream, only to find a unsanitary place with terrible
living conditions. Sinclair details Packingtown to be a somewhat of an alluring trap, it attracted
foreigners with its promise of work, but instead showed them the worst America had to offer. It
was through packing town in which Sinclair had intended to expose the terrible treatment of the
workers (the majority being immigrants).
The main character, Jurgis Rudkus is the focus of The Jungle. Sinclair depicts him as a
young, healthy, hard-working, and determined man. His strong will and faith in what he
believes in allows him to survive through the tough conditions. As the plot progresses, Jurgis’
life takes a turn for the worst after two of his family members die, and one of them abandons the
family. Jurgis still looks towards the bright side, that hard work will pay off in due time. His
attitude after his arrest and with the death of his wife, and he begins to drink to stop his
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depression. As he realizes the corruption that occurs through the city, he comes to a newfound
hope when his mother in law convinces him to believe in his son. This changes as well when his
son drowns, causing him to disappear once again in depression. After his second arrest, he
realizes that hard work does not pay off, and begins to work for the corrupt politician Mike
Schully. After his third and final arrest, Jurgis now wanders the streets with thoughts of
hopelessness and despair. That is until he wanders onto the site of a Socialist rally. It is at that
rally where his hopes are rejuvenated by the words of the speaker that he listens too.
Jurgis’ character represents the thoughts, and experiences many of immigrants had faced
when they had moved to Packingtown. He represented the unfair and wrongful treatment that
the immigrants had received while working there as well. It was through Jurgis’ character that
Sinclair had hoped to expose the horrific treatment and corruption that plagued the capitalist
meatpacking industry.
A second character that plays an important role in The Jungle is Ona Lukoszaite is the
wife of Jurgis, she as well has come to Packingtown in order to live a better life. Ona is a very
young woman in her early teens at the time of her marriage. (Her young age accounts for her
childlike qualities.) Even though she is a fragile person, she must work due to being in poverty,
where she too becomes a victim to the corruption of capitalism. This is apparent, because after
the painstaking birth of her first child, she is forced to attend to work only a week later. Also
being in a relationship with Jurgis forces her into a situation in where she must sleep with her
boss or risk having her husband fired since her boss has the contacts to do so. Due to continuous
strain and her fragile state, she dies during the birth of her second child due to blood loss.
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Ona’s character represents one of the many examples of how Capitalism is evil. If Ona
had been living in better conditions, and did not have to work almost every day, she still would
have been alive and well. Instead, Sinclair uses her to depict that even Capitalism can take the
purest people and destroy them.
A third character that plays an important role in The Jungle is Ostrinski. Ostrinski is a
polish immigrant who Jurgis meets at the first Socialist rally he attends. Ostrinski is the one who
teaches Jurgis about Socialism, explaining the basics of it and what it would do for them. This
chance meeting with Ostrinski allows Jurgis to learn more about what had inspired him during
the rally. This clears up all of Jurgis’ confusion and opens him up to a completely new world of
understanding:
“For four years, now, Jurgis had been wondering and blundering in the depths of
a wilderness; and here, suddenly, a hand reached down and seized him, and lifted him out of it,
and set him upon a mountaintop, from which he could survey it all – could see the paths from
which he had wandered, the morasses into which he had stumbled, the hiding places of the beasts
of prey that had fallen upon him.” (Sinclair 315).
Jurgis’ newfound clarity can relate to the clarity that Sinclair had too, experienced when first
introduced to Socialism.
Throughout the novel, Sinclair’s use of symbolism allows the reader to understand the
corruption that occurred throughout the stockyards of Packingtown. With some of the most
important symbols being Jurgis’ son, Packingtown, and the stockyards.
Jurgis’ son represents the hope Jurgis still has for a better life following his wife’s death.
His son Antanas Rudkus is the reason why Jurgis still had hope for the future, causing him to,
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once again, begin planning for the future. It is when Antanas dies by drowning that Jurgis loses
his senses and abandons his family for the second time. With the news of his death, Jurgis loses
all hope and snaps. His mindset about work in general changes, and he decides to live his life as
a tramp. Although the death of Jurgis’ son may seem as a negative thing, it may have been the
start of the chain reaction that led Jurgis to stumble upon Socialism.
In addition to Jurgis’ son being a symbol, the stockyards of Packingtown are also seen as
a symbol of evil. The stockyard is the location where herds of animals are forced into a location
and then are killed off. The murdering of the animals symbolizes the murder of all the
immigrants who went to Packingtown in search of work. The workers are “herded” into the
stockyards and slowly die off due to the horrific working conditions that they work under. In
addition, after groups of animals were slaughtered, a new group of animals replaces them. This
can represent the workers that are easily replaced after they would either quit or die. The heads
of the meatpacking industry treated immigrant workers as if they were animals. The working
conditions that the immigrants were under, seemed to be the conditions a farm animal would be
living with.
Sinclair also makes good use of the title of his novel The Jungle because Packingtown
itself is a “jungle.” As customary in the wilderness, the strongest will survive while the weak
die off. This theory when looked at a human perspective, is often referred to as Social
Darwinism (those at the very top will keep being successful, and those at the very bottom are
doomed to stay there forever). This relates to the majority of the people who worked in
Packingtown that were not immigrants. They preyed on the ignorance and weakness of the
immigrants in order to benefit themselves, such as when Jurgis is swindled out of $100, and Ona
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is forced to sleep with her boss in order to save Jurgis’ job. Sinclair used this as an example as
to how the people in charge in a capitalist society are dishonest and corrupt.
Sinclair’s symbols capitalize on the main themes he emphasizes throughout the novel.
His use of themes allows him to portray the message that he tries to send to the audience. The
main themes being Socialism being the solution to Capitalism, and the truth about the American
Dream.
Sinclair depicts Capitalism as an ailment, and Socialism being the long-needed cure to it.
Throughout the novel, Sinclair attacks Capitalism, claiming that all the blame for the corruption
that occurs in business can be put on Capitalism. Such as the people that would sell expired
meat “With one … whenever meat was so spoiled that it could not be used for anything else,
either to can it or else to chop it up into sausage.” (Sinclair 133). As well as the immigrants who
are exploited and mistreated by the owners of the businesses. Jurgis’ family can be used as an
example of immigrants who are torn apart by the evils of Capitalism. When Jurgis’ wanders into
the Socialist rally, Sinclair is able to point out his views on the benefits of Socialism, and how it
would put an end to all the troubles faced by the working class, because instead of a few living
comfortably, everyone would be able to live comfortably while under Socialism.
Along with Socialism, the American Dream was a main theme presented by Sinclair in
The Jungle. The reason for many immigrants coming to Packingtown in the first place, is to be
able to work hard and make a good living for themselves. While in Packingtown though, they
learn that the American Dream is not as good as they believed it to be, and that the working
conditions are terrible. Sinclair uses Jurgis as a prime example of an immigrant who tried to
follow the American Dream; believing that hard work and honesty will get him through. By
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using Jurgis as a prime example of the American Dream being destroyed, he depicts Capitalism
as a barricade that stops people from being able to accomplish their goals and being able to
follow their dreams.
Sinclair uses corruption as a motif, in order to emphasize his main themes in The Jungle.
Throughout the story, Sinclair shows large amounts of corruption that happen to Jurgis’ family.
Such as when the nice house they are promised, turns out to be a wreck. Also the people that
take advantage of each other in order to try and get ahead, such as the worker that took a third of
Jurgis’ father’s pay for finding him a job, as well as the bartender that swindled Jurgis for a large
sum of money. To sum it up, “Jurgis works and works at hellish jobs but falls ever backward,
cheated at every turn.” (Valiunas 45). Sinclair makes it seem as though there is no hope for
Jurgis up until the point where he stumbles across the rally, in which he gains inspiration and has
hope for a better life again.
The way Sinclair structured The Jungle also helps emphasize his theme of Socialism.
The novel first starts positive, with Jurgis getting married. Then the novel takes a turn towards
the more negative side when Jurgis finds out that he is in debt. The novel then once again,
becomes positive as Jurgis and his family members are able to find jobs. This gives the reader a
false sense that there will be a positive outcome every time there is a negative occurrence. This
is not the case though, as the novel spirals downward from there, making the reader feel as if
there is no hope for Jurgis, and that the novel will end on a negative note. That is the case until
the very end of the story, where Sinclair presents the positive solution to all the negative
problems that had been plaguing Jurgis throughout the story; Socialism! By structuring his novel
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like this, Sinclair was trying to make it seem as if Socialism was the only answer to everybody’s
problems.
Sinclair also manages to tell the story of numerous amounts of immigrants through the
use of irony. In the novel, the main reason why Jurgis and his family travels to Packingtown in
the first place is because he believes that he and his family will be able to find jobs and be able to
make a living for themselves after his relative Jonas convinces them to come to America. Once
there though the entire family loses sight on their once strong goal, and end up in a situation that
is worse than the situations they probably faced back home. As well as how Jurgis’ views about
work change throughout the story, after he realizes hard work will not do anybody any good in
Packingtown. This example of irony can probably relate to the situation that many immigrants
faced after arriving there in Packingtown in search of work.
Sinclair’s affiliation with the Socialist Party also contributes to the novel’s positive view
towards Socialism. Characters such as Ostrinski show Sinclair’s thoughts about the Socialist
Party. By using Ostrinski as a sort of, guidance counselor for Jurgis, Sinclair depicts Socialists
to be good people that aid those in need of help, displaying a positive tone. While on the other
hand, Sinclair’s attitude towards Capitalism can be seen with his negative tone towards the
corrupt men who Jurgis comes upon throughout the novel.
Although Sinclair’s main goal when he wrote The Jungle was to promote Socialism over
Capitalism, he managed to spark a completely different interest. The audience of his novel was
more concerned with the detail regarding the way the meat was handled in the stockyards.
“One day a man slipped and hurt his leg; and that afternoon, when the last of the cattle
had been disposed of, and the men were leaving, Jurgis was ordered to remain and do some
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special work which this injured man had usually done. It was late, almost dark, and the
government inspectors had all gone, and there were only a dozen or two of men on the floor.
That day they had killed about four thousand cattle, and these cattle had come in freight trains
from far states, and some of them had got hurt. There were some with broken legs, and some
with gored sides; there were some that had died, from what cause no one could say; and they
were all to be disposed of, here in darkness and silence. “Downers,” the men called them; and
the packing house had a special elevator upon which they were raised to the killing beds, where
the gang proceeded to handle them, with an air of businesslike nonchalance which said plainer
than any words that it was a matter of everyday routine. It took a couple of hours to get them out
of the way, and in the end Jurgis saw them go into the chilling rooms with the rest of the meat,
being carefully scattered here and there so that they could not be identified. When he came home
that night he was in a very somber mood, having begun to see at last how those might be right
who had laughed at him for his faith in America.” (Sinclair 62-63).
The vivid detail depicting the unsanitary things that occurred in the stockyards caused a
major controversy in the United States. The controversy sparked a huge investigation into the
meatpacking industry led by the president at the time Theodore Roosevelt. “The Jungle led to
such a public outcry that the Pure Food and Drug Act was signed into law in 1906, within a year
of the book's publication. With enactment of that law came the creation of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration.” (The FDA, 2006). Along with the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, was
the Meat Inspection Act that was also passed in 1906 by the U.S Congress. Sinclair’s response
to the attention brought to his novel was negative, and his reaction to it can be seen in his famous
quote, “I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” (Sinclair 591).
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Sinclair’s use of the literary elements plays a major role in developing The Jungle. If
Sinclair had not used literary elements, the novel would not have enough details and structure for
it to make an impact in American society. Although Sinclair’s novel does accomplish his goal of
stating that Socialism is better than Capitalism, the majority of the audience did not notice it,
instead focusing more on the meatpacking industry and their disregards for sanitation and the
consumer’s health.
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Works Cited
Sinclair, Upton. “What Life Means to Me” Cosmopolitan Magazine October 1906.
26 November 2012 591
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/72969046/Upton-Sinclair-what-Life-Means-to-Mecosmopolitan-Oct-1906>.
Sinclair, Upton. “The Jungle” New York: Bantam Classics, 1981
“The FDA: it's a jungle in there.” Family Practice News 1 Aug. 2006: 55.
Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
“Upton Sinclair; the Lithuanian Jungle.” Reference & Research Book News Aug. 2006.
Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
Valiunas, Algis. “The blood of Upton Sinclair.” Commentary 125.5 (2008): 45+.
Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.