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American Dream In The Jungle

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The Illusive American Dream

The illusive American Dream. Wanted by many, achieved by few. In his book, The Epic of America, written in 1931, James Truslow Adams stated that the American dream is,..

The promise of this equal opportunity was the draw for many immigrants. They longed to live in a place full of prosperity. However, this was rarely the situation they they found themselves in. Illustrated in Upton Sinclair’s classic protest novel, The Jungle, the story of a poor slavic immigrant family set in Packingtown, Chicago, struggling to make ends meat all while grasping for that American Dream. It becomes quickly apparent that the American Dream is just that, a dream, and that the American system only corrupts the kind, that capitalism …show more content…

Social Darwinism reigns supreme, and it’s eat or be eaten. It’s chain with the immigrants were once abused, becoming the abuser. This is highlighted by the fact that Irish immigrants, who just a few generation before, had been at the bottom of the totem pole, barely surviving and facing harsh discrimination, are now cheating the new generation of Eastern and Northern European immigrants. Mike Scully, an Irishman, is now the political boss of Chicago. He is involved with much of the apparent corruption in Packingtown from the potholes to the deeply broken electoral system. It’s a testament to just how easy it is for people to dehumanize the immigrants become. Sinclair explained the chain …show more content…

Of course, this isn't actually possible for Jurgis and his family. Their expenses are too large, and misfortune seems to follow them around like shadow. The women have to work, even the children even have to work/beg for awhile. The American Dream is for a naive man, and its reality is much more harsh. This is where socialism comes in again, at the end of the story. After the various tragic events that have ruined Jurgis’s life, from his wife and child dying, to going to prison, becoming a beggar and mugger, he stumbles upon a Socialist political meeting. For a man in Jurgis’s situation, socialism seems like an ideal solution to his problems. It offers a fairness that the American system of capitalism lacks, it is the true equality that Jurgis wanted. The rich use and abuse the poor, as illustrated by

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In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Jurgis and his family attempt to survive in a malicious society. In this jungle of a town, rotten meat is being packaged in order to save money. Throughout the novel, the immigrants are faced with greedy capitalists who take advantage of the family’s ignorance and naivety in order to make money. The symbols of corruption, a jungle-like setting, and the tension between family and a work-based lifestyle transparently contribute to the unifying theme of anti-capitalism. In other words, this book is not art; this book is propaganda.

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This author’s point of view was that of a high ranking, white, “native” American who was trying to acknowledge that other races weren’t necessarily bad, just inferior to the traditional blonde hair, blue eyed American. As seen in Document H, by 1921 it was being demanded that the only way to keep these immigrants under control is to put stiff limits on the number that can be let in at a 3% admission rate. The purpose of that cartoon was to convince anyone who could vote that even stricter admission rates were necessary in order to keep out the

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Written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, The Jungle is a novel meant to describe the social and political situation of the time, having as a basis his undercover investigation in a meatpacking plant in Chicago, for the socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason. The story, set in the Chicago of the time, describes the life of a group of immigrants that, persuaded by the idea of the American Dream, embarked themselves in the most important journey of their lives. In the city, they would have to overcome the many challenges that an industrial city holds, such as the meatpacking industry, that sells spoiled meat, and oppresses workers, having to work long hours for a minimum wage. The book soon became one of the most influential books of its time. It turned

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Revealing the harsh treatment of meatpacking workers and showing the reality of the disgusting conditions found in butchery shops to the public, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle became an enduring classic by American readers throughout the early twentieth century the prompted the later creation of the Federal Drug Administration. In the early 1900s, America was explosively transitioning from an agricultural society to a thriving manufacturing-based nation. As production demand in factories grew throughout the country, the work force needed to run those factories also expanded. A new type of demanding and dangerous work became prevalent throughout the nation, as immigrants coming into the “Land of Opportunity” found themselves desperate

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Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tension in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through his novel “The Jungle”. He used the story of a Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, to show the harsh situation that immigrants had to face in the United States, the unsanitary and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking plants, as well as the tension between the capitalism and socialism in the United States during the early 1900s. In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, there were massive immigrants move into the United States, and most of them were from Europe. The protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, like many other immigrants, have the “America Dream” which they believe America is heaven to them, where they can

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The Jungle is a novel that is famous for its depiction of the inhumane conditions in the meatpacking industry. Sinclair’s use of graphic descriptions of the working and living conditions of the workers in the industry, particularly the immigrants, was a significant factor in the book’s popularity. For example, Sinclair wrote, “They worked

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In their work, both George J. Sanchez and Kelly Lytle Hernandez discuss race as well as the black-white paradigm in which Latinos do not have a solid place. In Race, Nation, and Culture in Recent Immigration Studies, Sanchez argues that the future of immigration history depends on the field’s ability to incorporate insights of race, nation, and culture that develop. Meanwhile, in Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol, Lytle Hernandez discusses how the border is controlled, race, and the racialization of migration control. They both cite past immigration laws in their work and discuss the experiences of whites, blacks, and Mexicans in the United States.

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Over the years, immigrants have influenced many aspects of American society and has had a vital role in shaping the United States to what it is today. According to the US Census Bureau, an agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for producing data about the American people and economy, “non-Hispanic white population in the U.S. declined from 85 percent in 1965 to 62.2 percent in 2014, and the forecast is for the percentage of non-Hispanic whites to fall to 43.6 percent in 2060” (qtd. in Walsh). Despite the rise of immigrants and the profound impact they have had on society, many immigrants face perpetual discrimination; this idea has appeared many times throughout Barbara Kingsolver’s novel The Bean Trees. Taking place during the 1970s, the main character, Taylor, moves from Kentucky to Arizona; along the way, she meets Esperanza and Estevan, illegal immigrants from Guatemala. As she gets to know them better, she notices they are forced to live a monotonous, arduous life which implies that immigrants face prejudice from Americans who claim to be accepting.

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The 19th century was the era of the Gilded Age, where the economy was booming, bringing great changes that affected the lives of workers and entrepreneurs. During this period, there was a large influx of immigrants that were coming to America to look for job opportunities. The migration of immigrants proved useful as a source for cheap labor, allowing an even higher rise in the U.S. economy. While American industrialization may have benefited the upper class of the American society, the effects were opposite to the workers of the lower classes. This problem was especially worse for immigrant workers as their belief in the so-called American dream has been worn down due to the misery they had to endure.

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June 23, 2022 the US Supreme Court made a choice that drastically changed women's health care in many ways, for me, my mom, and my friends. The courts voted 6–3 justices to abolish Roe v Wade: a landmark case that protected the right of abortion. This law is something that has protected women's access and rights to abortions for 50 years. Without this protection, each state is able to individually choose the laws and rights behind abortion. This decision has caused and will cause countless issues across the world such as medical issues, safety issues, and human rights being taken away.

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The Jungle In the literary work, The Jungle, the author, Upton Sinclair makes a commentary on the deceitful and dark truth of the American dream. This was achieved by using the canned meat that was produced in Packingtown as a symbol to represent the dream that all the immigrants had about their new lives in America. As the story progresses, the reader, along with the protagonist, Jurgis will discover that the American dream lies cloaked behind a shroud of beautiful lies that masks the vile truths that are the American dream and the canned “beef” processed by the corrupt meat business in Packingtown.

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2149 Words | 9 Pages

A Time for Struggle and Change Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, depicts the struggles of Lithuanian immigrants as they worked and lived in Chicago’s Packingtown at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The United States experienced an enormous social and political transformation; furthermore, the economy, factories, and transportation industry grew faster than anyone had ever seen. Immigrants and migrants were attracted to city life for its promise of employment and their chance at the American Dream. The poor working class had little to no rights, and they grappled with unfair business practices, unsafe working conditions, racism, Social Darwinism, class segregation, xenophobia, political corruption, strikes, starvation, poor housing,

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822 Words | 4 Pages

Impossible Dreams The meaning of the American Dream can be seen as ”A uniquely American vision of the country consisting of three central ideas. The American dream consists of a belief in America as the new Eden- a land of beauty, bounty, and unlimited promise; a feeling of optimism, created by ever expanding opportunity; and a confidence in the triumph of the individual.” Using this definition of the so called “American dream”, it seems to be a great representation of it at first, until you realize it includes everyone as the individual. From the beginning of the Civil war to the end of the War to End All Wars, the American Dream wasn’t possible due to the treatment of the Native Americans, the inequality between women and men, and the false promises given to the immigrants coming to our country in their time of need.

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The ability for people to look at a situation from a different perspective is vital in today’s globalized society. Diversity is the most important, core attribute we each share that gives us the ability to assess new situations through our diverse backgrounds and upbringings. Unlike Patrick J. Buchanan’s argument in his essay titled “Deconstructing America,” diversity is a necessity in America’s culture as opposed to the burden it is described as. Conversely, Fredrickson 's essay titled “Models of American Ethnic Relations: A Historical Perspective,” illustrated a more precise version of American history that disproves Buchanan’s ethnocentric ideologies. Buchanan speaks of diversity on a narrow, one-way street.

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James Truslow Adams defines the American Dream as the “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (The American Dream). An idea sought after by millions of people is the American Dream; they believe there is a reward for hard work and that that reward is happiness and prosperity. The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, and The Crucible are all works, which portray the pursuit and destruction of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby’s American dream was to marry the woman he loved. This is evident throughout the novel; Gatsby is determined to transform his life from dirt to diamonds all to be a suitable man for Daisy.

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