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Summary Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

1523 Words7 Pages

During the late 19th century, Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle where he romanticized the notion of American culture. This exaggeration enticed immigrants to travel to America in an effort to start a new life as exemplified by Jurgis Rudkus and his family. Immigrants traveled due to their high hopes and expectations for finding more opportunities and climbing up the socioeconomic ladder. They allowed unrestrained capitalism to take advantage of them which ultimately led to inhumane living and working conditions. With its abuse of the immigrant workers, the system of capitalism was a major downfall in society. One can argue, however, that in addition to the corruption of the system, the workers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries put themselves in the situation of endless strife. This was due to their naivety with regards to misconceptions of the American Dream and system, unfamiliarity with the English language, nonexistent awareness of classism, political motives, and greed. Through the illustration of the hardships new immigrant workers faced, Sinclair used the life of Jurgis Rudkus to advance his argument for the movement towards socialism in the Gilded Age. Originating from a rural area in Lithuania, Jurgis tried to seize any opportunity he could in order to better life for himself and his posterity. Before conducting any form …show more content…

Szedvilas, Delicatessen: the delicatessen owned by the man Jonas said had made it in America. It was at his shop that Jurgis realized that not everything was as easily accessible as he had initially thought. He was unaware how expensive items were in America in comparison to back home in Lithuania. “What had made the discovery all the more painful was that they were spending, at American prices, money which they had earned at home rates of wages—and so were really being cheated by the world! The last two days they had all but starved themselves… (Sinclair,

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