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Awarness Of Conditions In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

1385 Words6 Pages

The rapid industrialization and urbanization of the late 19th century brought prosperity and wealth to America and improved the living standards of almost all citizens. Refined machinery, fresh innovations, and the management revolution accelerated the production and quality of products while minimizing costs. Despite the developments and improvements that occurred during this era, they came at a price. Along with industrialization came the issues of overcrowded housing, unsanitary conditions, and corruption in large corporations, to name a few. Business leaders of such corporations often exploited workers and repressed competition in a suffocating and monopolistic manner. The lawmakers and businessmen who benefited from the new developments …show more content…

This awareness motivated the actions of reformers and civilians, which therefore fueled Progressivism. In The Jungle by Sinclair, he wrote, “These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together, (79). Sinclair also described the contamination of meat by factory workers, the rotting of meat, and the generally unsanitary conditions of a meatpacking plant (79). While The Jungle’s main purpose was to highlight and raise awareness of the terrible working conditions of employees, public outrage was mainly focused on passages like these. Sinclair said, "I aimed at the public's heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach,” in reference to the misunderstanding. Such passages disgusted civilians who demanded that similarly to the Standard Oil Company, meatpacking facilities needed more government regulation. By informing the public with facts people didn’t want to hear, Sinclair effectively shaped public opinion against meat packing plants and created concern for the sanitation of food and the process to make it. Meat sales went down drastically following the publishing of this novel. The uproar caught the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt who then ordered an investigation of the meat packing plants. After getting a report back, Roosevelt decided it was necessary to pass regulatory laws. In response to the national demand and Roosevelt’s request, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act in 1906. The effect of The Jungle on the public which resulted in legislative action displayed the impact that reformers could have on the government and politics (Henretta, et al. 580). The social reaction was a leading catalyst for tangible change, proving the necessity of

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One side of the controversy is the agreement that the meat industry was indeed unsanitary and a risk to an individual’s health. While Sinclair’s novel only gave a glimpse of the issue, it brought the problem to light with many critics speaking and commenting on the unethical methods used in slaughter houses. Kauffman explains how the issues may be “because… inspections program [were] underfunded, there [most likely was] not

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Sinclair worked undercover in a meatpacking plant to gather information firsthand, before he began writing the book. Its influence on the labor practices and regulations governing the food industry cannot be understated. It tackles subjects as varied as the poor living conditions of the immigrants, exploitation of cheap labor by industrialists, and the unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking plants and stockyards of Chicago. The descriptions of the disgusting processes that were conducted in the meatpacking plants made for shocking reading and turned the book into a bestseller. The President Teddy Roosevelt ordered an investigation into the lack of sanitation in meatpacking plants and caused the creation of legislation governing the food industry in the form of the Food and Drugs Act of 1906.

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After many months of writing his book was published. Much of the population began to take interest in the book. Many were outraged and horrified over the description of the meat packing industry. They looked more closely on the fact that rat infested meat was churned and put into sausages that would later would be set on the table to be fed to people. Many movement were created and pursued to the congress that laws or acts must be pushed to change the gruesome meat production.

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Sinclair exposed the problem of mutilated limbs and other horrors common to the workers. Sinclair also explained how even minor injuries could become fatal and how the labor intense work done at the factories caused workers to experience swollen joints (doc 1). Unfortunately, no laws were passed to protect workers from the awful conditions they faced. Although Sinclair’s attempt at reforming working conditions was fruitless, the public’s reaction to the truth about the meat they were purchasing sparked a nationwide attempt to enact consumer protection laws. The meat packing factories were doctoring their products with chemicals so they could profit from rotten meat.

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Sinclair sheds light on how unsanitary the meat processing industry was, using words to paint a mental picture in the minds of the reader leaving them with a bad taste in their mouths. This story eventually led to the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act after people went crazy reading what was described in the book. Although no specific facts were provided other than the contents in the book itself, it held true accounts of what the industry was like. Sinclair would speak of the rat poison being left close to the meat, or the use of the rotting meat to be sold. With this story people began to see the gruesome conditions by which their food was being handled.

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Upton Sinclair wrote a book called “The Jungle”. This book exposed the way meat was being packaged. As a

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In 1906 Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a fictional novel that depicted the working class’ lifestyle and working conditions in the American city of Chicago. It focused on the meat-packing industry of the 20th century and the capitalist elite achieving success through the manipulation of poor immigrants, corruption of the capitalist government, institutions and its exploits of the growing industrial American state. Though Sinclair’s novel received critical acclaim for its reveal of the poor environmental and health conditions of the meat-packing industry, was there an underlying ideology he sought to impose and if so was he successful in his attempt? The third-person narration of The Jungle, enables Upton Sinclair from making his argument

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Thus, Sinclair’s purpose of writing The Jungle failed to bring readers to advocate for the rights of workers trapped in the low wages, unsafe working conditions, and long hours of meatpacking factories, but rather, succeeded in opening the country’s eyes to the meatpacking practices that went on behind closed doors and the establishment administrations to protect the public from these unscrupulous

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The book was instrumental in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. These laws were passed in response to the book’s depiction of the unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry. The laws were designed to improve the safety and quality of food products in the United States. The Jungle also had an impact on the political beliefs of many Americans. Sinclair’s message of socialism as a solution to the social and economic problems in America resonated with many people.

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The President at the time, Roosevelt, summoned a meeting with Sinclair, in which they discussed what he had written about. A few months later, after inspections of meat producing companies had been done, President Roosevelt established the Meat Inspection Act Of 1906. This prevented any bad meat from making its way into stores or other places the public could buy it. He also signed a law regulating food and drugs called the Pure Food and Drug Act which prohibited mislabeling of food and drugs. The Jungle saved many lives and ensured confidence in many people after laws for food safety were

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While he sought to change the system of labor in the United States with his novel, The Jungle, he instead impacted the food industry, which saw changes in the food and production process. Fortunately for Sinclair, I have discovered why he failed. Unfortunately for Sinclair, I am forty-nine years too late. Sinclair fails to make labor changes through his novel because

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Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food. Body 1: The meat packing industry’s working conditions were much worse in the 1900’s than they are today. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, working conditions were horrible for immigrants who were employed in these factories. People in these factories were worked very hard and used up till they could not work anymore. In the novel Jurgis broke his ankle because of the unsafe

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2539 Words | 11 Pages

By reading this book, a reader basically just appreciates all the benefits of socialism. However, Sinclair fails to mention all the benefits of capitalism. The book is extremely biased toward socialism, but that is because he wanted to convince readers that socialism is the best form of government. In addition, a reader also learns about the horrors of meat packing. In class, we learned about how the meatpacking industry was one of the most disgusting of its time.

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2371 Words | 10 Pages

Upton Sinclair, a muckraker, brought attention to the American public, about the meatpacking industry in his book The Jungle. In his book, it revolved around a Lithuanian immigrant family, who immigrated to Chicago and the difficulties and poverty they faced while in Packington. The purpose of the novel was to bring about attention and expose the conditions of the meatpacking industry, so that the government would be forced to to fix it. The intended audience that Sinclair hoped it would catch the attention of was the American public so they could be exposed to the hidden truth about the meat packing industry and the government as well, so that they could also pass food safety laws.(Doc.2) Although it was a fictional story, it was successful in bringing attention to how filthy the meatpacking industry was to the government and public.

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Throughout Upton Sinclair’s late teen years he invested time in being an undercover investigator. He began his investigation in Packingtown, Chicago in its unsanitary factories. Sinclair was disgusted; therefore, he exposed these conditions to help later pass the Pure Food and Drug Act along with the Meat Inspection Act. Throughout the context of The Jungle, Sinclair aims at the character and setting to expose the meat packing industry to contain the public’s health.

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