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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The American Meal, By Upton Sinclair

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“‘If they’ve got a pulse… we’ll take an application’” (Schlosser 162). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal by Eric Schlosser and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair convey corporations treating the public inhumanely. The books discuss how the companies will fix their prices, the lengths they will go to avoid unionization within their establishments, highlight how their employees are struggling to survive on their low wages, and provide a look into the risks of working for these corporations.
Food processing industries want to exploit their profits and will do so through any means necessary, legally or otherwise. “The intense pressure to return a bigger bag of money every year has prompted a number of ConAgra employees to break the law” (Schlosser 159). These companies will gather to discuss prices, fix them, and do anything else that they can to pull in a larger profit. “He was in the same plight as the manufacturer who has to adulterate and misrepresent his product. If he does not, someone else will;” (Sinclair 134). Both of these quotes are discussing how the companies are selling falsely advertised products at unfair prices.
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They do not offer any sort of benefits and will pay as little as they legally are allowed. Most people working for these establishments cannot survive off of their salary. “... the fast food industry seeks out part-time, unskilled workers who are willing to accept low pay” (Schlosser 68). They would rather hire these young people, disregarding the strain it can put on their education, than shell out a decent pay for adults. The events in The Jungle relate to issues that are still around today. “... he would carry home three dollars to his family… just about his proper share of the total earnings of the million and three-quarters of children who are now engaged in earning their livings…” (Sinclair

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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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In the novel The Jungle, Upton Sinclair illustrates that “Neither the squeals of hogs nor tears of visitors made any difference to [the workers]; one by one they hooked up the hogs, and one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats” exemplifying the desensitization of workers in the meat-packing industry (Sinclair, 35). This desensitization was the result of years of tedious work that removed all hope from the workers and left them isolated. However, it is not only the nature of the work that affected them, but those who had more power than them. The advance of the industrial revolution resulted in businessmen and bosses gaining power simultaneously while workers were becoming circumscribed by their work.

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