Subject: The Jungle mainly focuses on poor living conditions for the working class in 20th century Chicago. I learned how corrupt politics in this time period were, how gross the meatpacking industry used to be, and how hard immigrants had it when they came to America. This text is controversial because it gives suggestion that socialism is the better government system. This would split the sides into those for capitalism and those for socialism.
Occasion: The Jungle was written in 1906 by Upton Sinclair. During this time in history, lots of poor European migrants were moving to the United States looking for work opportunities/ better wages. Many of these immigrants moved into big cities where they usually found shelter in overcrowded tenements.
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They also better to identify with Jurgis and his families’ struggles. Sinclair probably also wanted government officials to read the book because they had the power to take immediate action. It is ironic because government officials did take action, just not in the way that Sinclair originally anticipated. Roosevelt passed the Federal meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug act in response to the book. While this changed America for the better, it did not come in the form of democratic socialism that Sinclair …show more content…
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. For example, Marija couldn’t bounce back to the young energetic girl she once was. Even after socialism, she saw no point in trying to leave being a prostitute and taking dope behind. It was too late for