Language In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

The language used depends on who is talking in order to provide an insight on that particular character’s background and behavior. For example, in one scene, he meets Freddie Jones, the son of these meatpacking owners, and Freddie states, “Oh yes, sure nuff! Mos forgot you-hic-ole chappie?”. This indicates his drunken behavior and carefree personality he had. This is crucial to the story because of Freddie’s behavior, he accidentally gave Jurgis a $100 bill which leads to Jurgis’s second time in jail. This story includes a lot of dialogue that is mostly informal. The characters use words such as “whuzzit”, “hassome”, and “whuzzamatter” to show a more authentic side. Although Sinclair tells the story from an outside perspective and uses sophisticated language, the dialogue is mostly slang. This makes the characters more believable considering the time period they were in and the lack of education. Sinclair uses grotesque imagery about the killing of animals in factories which contribute to the purpose of pushing towards food safety. He does not use flowery language at all. He was trying to completely overturn the economy at this time and he did this

But later on, what with sickness and cold and hunger and discouragement, and the filthiness of his work, and the vermin in his home, he had given up washing in winter, and in summer only as much of him as would go into a basin. He had had a shower bath in jail, but nothing since—and now he would have a swim!” (178). This explores the way that Jurgis came to America with hopes and dreams in which he worked very hard to try to accomplish. Such as, looking for jobs and protecting his family from having to venture out in the real world like he had to. However, once he saw what it was really like he gave up on trying to “play by the rules” because he realized society was driven by everyone's own self