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Dehumanization In The Jungle

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Upton Sinclair’s, “The Jungle,” illustrated crucial aspects of American history, some more effectively than others. However, it is apparent that “The Jungle” effectively portrayed the realms of capitalism and the industrial crisis exceptionally. This aspect of the industrial issue was further reinforced with tons of descriptions of the harsh working conditions, which further led to the development of many socialistic ideologies and strikes. It was obvious that the high authorities within the meat-packing industry only cared about one thing; profit. These private-business owners reinforced the unsanitary, inhumane operations of a capitalistic society; one that gave little remorse for those working unhealthy loads of hours. Sinclair mentions …show more content…

All day long the gates of the packing houses were besieged by starving and penniless men; they came, literally, by the thousands every single morning, fighting for each other for a chance for life” (Chapter 7, Page 77). This industrial crisis was unveiled by the lack of empathy from higher authorities, who would continue to hire workers on a daily basis despite the current workers dropping like flies, due to the extreme, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions that they experienced. This dehumanized their own self-identity and self-worth, in which the industry made it quite clear that they were just bolts and screws to the machines, and could easily be replaced, due to the influx of immigrants at this time. The dehumanization of the individual worker, and the unimaginable conditions that one needed to work in, led to many socialistic ideologies and aggressive strikes that were prevalent in this novel, another crucial aspect that was portrayed alongside the emphasis on the industrial …show more content…

This industrial crisis which evolved through ill-practiced capitalism and poor working conditions led to many revolts. Sinclair writes, “To Jugis, the packers had been equivalent to fate; Ostinsku shows him that they were the Beef Trust. They were a gigantic combination of capital, which had crushed all opposition, overthrown the laws of the land, and was preying upon the people” (Chapter 29, Page 304). With this, Ostinsku reassures Jurgis that the capitalists are extremely corrupt, and desiring and thinking for themselves, and themselves only. Jurgis compares his work “equivalent to fate,” because at the time it felt as if those in power harnessed everything over Jurgis, from their great wealth and power, whereas Jurgis had nothing. This quote from the novel, unveiled the deep corruption, through the great clash between government agencies and the meat-packing industry. These government agencies were in charge of the regulation of such issues originating in this particular industry, and yet it allowed it to keep prospering while many workers continue to pass away, and live in hellish

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You want to help the citizens of Packingtown (Chicago) and stop the atrocities that are going on in the meat packing plants. However, when this book was written, Sinclair’s point was often skewed or just ignored. His purpose of writing the book wasn’t necessarily to draw attention to the meatpacking industry; it was instead to draw attention to Socialism, and how much better it is than capitalism. The books main themes are poverty, power, social classes, and suffering until the end when Jurgis finds socialism. However, socialism couldn’t remedy everything that capitalism broke.

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The book, After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection describes how Upton Sinclair stated how he had hoped to draw his readers’ attention to “the conditions under which toilers get their bread,” and how there are, “corrupt federal meat inspectors, unsanitary slaughter houses, tubercular cattle, and the packers’ unscrupulous business practices”(Document 4). The authors, James Davidson and Mark Lytle are expressing how meat factory workers are making terrible, unsanitary food. They’re pointing out that not even the meat inspectors care for the condition the meat is in. In other words, just as long as they’re making a profit, the inspectors could care less about the meat’s quality. However, consumer products soon took a turn for the better when the Meat Inspection Act was finally passed.

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He witnesses long working hours at an average of 59 hours per week at an average hourly wage of 21.7 cents. In addition, he witnesses the unsanitary environmental conditions and practices performed in the industry, such as diseases, and meat being butchered and mixed until the rest of the meat is cured. Sinclair writes, “It was the great packing houses that were ruining the stockyards; they were driving the independents to the wall” (Sinclair, 1992, p. 120). He demonstrates how large companies manipulate the markets and how workers are treated with contempt and forced to take on dangerous working conditions. Under the monopolistic control of the market, meatpacking corporations disregard the working conditions, human rights of their employees, and sanitation of their factory productions.

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Around seventy percent of Americans claim to hate their job, but The Jungle by Upton Sinclair puts into perspective how fortunate they really are (Adeline). This novel goes into detail about what was actually happening in the meat packing plants of 1906 and how it affected the employees’ mental and physical health. The workers in the meat packing plants had it much worse than those seventy percent today. They described their job with many negative words such as “agony”. The use of the word “agony” in The Jungle proves that the so-called employees were actually just slaves.

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Furious with grief, Jurgis takes the rest of the family’s money and goes to drink his sorrows away. Living with the purpose of supporting his sole son, Jurgis works harder than ever to support his family, even though it means only visiting on the weekends. One tragic weekend, Jurgis returns home to discover that his son has died by drowning in the streets of mud. With nothing keeping him in the broken city, Jurgis heads out to the plains, doing odd jobs for meals and stealing or picking fruit when he is turned down. Jurgis refuses to work for any man for a committed time, and soon begins to feel the stresses of city life fade away.

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Immigrants from the early 20th century came to America looking for jobs and brighter futures. Many were faced with harsh realities, especially those who were employed in the meatpacking industries. The wealthy exploited the weak and unemployed, using them to make their own profits, and Jurgis describes the society: “The city, which was owned by an oligarchy of business men, being nominally ruled by the people, a huge army of graft was necessary for the purpose of effecting the transfer of power.”(173) This made capitalism an oppressive and repressive society. Sinclair depicts the meatpacking industry's greed and corruption throughout the whole book, showing how businesses prioritize profit over the health and safety of their employees and customers.

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Working conditions are horrible, as Jurgis describes when he says “The men worked ankle deep in blood on the hottest days of July for hours on end without a break” (Sinclair 33). In the Winter, Jurgis also describes “Fingers snapping from frostbite” and “Workers dozing off only to never wake again.” As shown by these examples, the bosses don’t care about the workers at all, and the book states, ”Jurgis had come there, and thought he was going to rise and become a skilled man; but he would soon find out his error—for nobody rose in Packingtown by doing good work. You could lay that down for a rule—if you met a man who was rising in Packingtown, you met a knave. That man would rise; the man who told tales and spied upon his fellows would rise; but the man who minded his own business and did his work—why, they would "speed him up" till they had worn him out, and then they would throw him into the gutter” (Sinclair 54).

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Instead of honing in on the social aspect, and the workers in general, many scholars and students are taught that the main purpose of this novel was to unveal the meat-packing conditions and the lack of policies and standards regarding the health of the public. To add, Barrett states, “...the slaughterhouses and the fate of the animals consigned there symbolized a much greater human tragedy being played out in factories and urban slums throughout the world” (xiii). This perfectly sums up that the initial goal of Sinclair’s writing was intended to emphasize and focus in on the hearts of humans, but rather as previously mentioned, ended up hitting them in the stomach, in relation to the unsanitary and disturbing conditions that America’s food was being processed. Another valid part was the lack of emphasis on American’s social life. This served as a prime weakness that Barrett explained, which he states, “The social and cultural lives of the immigrants disintegrate under the pressures of daily life in an urban slum” (xix).

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During the time period of the 1900’s, the meat packaging industry in Chicago, as Sinclair mentions in his novel, The Jungle, was a very unsanitary and extremely dangerous workplace that lacked much more than just a few safety precautions. Simple things, such as enforcing hand washing or workers’ rights were unheard of in the working environment. It is clear that Upton Sinclair was trying to expose the worker’s horrendous labor conditions in order to improve their situation, along with the introduction of socialism. Upton Sinclair, in his novel, talks about how a Lithuanian immigrant by the name of Jurgis Rudkus, and his family, travel to Chicago trying to make ends meet. However, they soon realize Chicago was not the place for that.

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