Symbolism In The Jungle, By Upton Sinclair

676 Words3 Pages

In the novel, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, the author uses events and things that occur as a metaphor or a symbolic meaning. Although, the meanings of these metaphors and symbols are not directly stated, as a reader, it's very easy to interpret them as the story continues on and the plot deepens. One of the events in the story that has another meaning behind it is the opening scene of the novel. This is where we are introduced to some of the characters, the setting, and it is our first glimpse of the plot and where it truly all begins. The opening scene of the novel is Jurgis Rudkis and Ona Lukoszaite's traditional Lithuanian wedding feast, although they are very young. This truly sets the scene for the novel overall and shows what it is to come further in the story. As stated in the previous paragraph, the novel begins with the wedding feast of two young lovers, Jurgis Rudkis and Ona Lukoszaite. They are two Lithuanian immigrants who met in Lithuania, years ago. The wedding feast is traditional for their culture. The feast takes place in Chicago in the early 1900s. Jurgis and Ona have had to wait a long time for their wedding traditions to occur as they had bad financial issues after immigrating to Chicago, searching for a better life much like many …show more content…

Although life was difficult, they are surging on and continuing on to get where they want to be in life. They are working their hardest and trying not to give up, even if it is extremely difficult for them. They waited a long time until their wedding feast could occur and until they were financially able to do so. This shows that they have good values. They are hard working, very independent for being teenagers, they don't give up although times are getting to be rough, and they are fighting for what they want. The two main characters are hardworking and unbeatable, they will continue on for as long as they need to just to get what they