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The American Dream In Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

901 Words4 Pages

Kalos Soriano
Ms. Wiencek
English 2A Hour 4
May 8, 2023
Survival of the Privileged “Instead of a promised land, the family finds a land where greed and exploitation rule.” (Munro 1). What distinguishes someone as an “American”—is it having citizenship in America, or is it the support of the ideology of capitalism? Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle offers perspectives on what it means to be American, as well as the false reality of the “American Dream” and examples of the hardship’s immigrants faced while living in the late 1900s. The American Dream is a concept that has been celebrated in American culture as a symbol of hope and opportunity for individuals seeking a better life. However, Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle reveals the harsh realities …show more content…

The “American Dream” is just a loop that makes one seem like they are achieving their desired goals but end up falling back down. Jurgis is a perfect example of this. Jurgis and Ona are immigrant from Lithuania and see America is a place of prosperity and hope. Munro sates that “…The American Dream creates a false sense of hope and opportunity for individuals who are convinced that they can achieve success through hard work and determination, regardless of their social or economic background.” (Munro 2). Jurgis believes that with hard work and dedication they can live comfortably. This “Dream” is furthest from the truth. The “American Dream” comes with the ideas of capitalism, and the ideology exploits the working class to just give more money and power to the already wealthy upper-class. Capitalism includes terrible working conditions, child labor, prostitution, political …show more content…

The novel is a vivd depiction of the struggles of a Lithuanian immigrant family in Chicago, as they try to make a living in the meatpacking industry. A key element in being “American” and an immigrant is having to be dedicated and persistent. Looking past the hardships at the moment, but to see what will come in the future when all of the hard work is done. According to Lynn Munro, writer of a literary criticism of The Jungle,
“Jurgis personifies their defiance, constantly vowing to work harder and refusing to accept the systemic causes of his sufferings. He dedicates himself to achieving the American Dream and is convinced that through his own resolve and determination he can provide for his family and loved ones and rise through the system”

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The American Dream; an ideal that led thousands of immigrants to the United States with optimism to begin a new life. The Jungle is a novel, written by Upton Sinclair, that follows the journey of a young man named Jurgis as he chases after the idea of the American Dream. Jurgis and his family set out determined to create a new life filled with opportunity. However, experience will soon teach them The American Dream led them to a world filled with prejudice and exploitation; rather than opportunity and equality. It was love at first sight for Jurgis Rudkus when he saw Ona Lukoszaite for the first time at a horse sale in Lithuania.

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When Jurgis first arrives to America, he is horrified by the filthy conditions people live in, but continues to be optimistic, ambitious, and caring. Jurgis’ family had come to America because Jonas, Teta’s brother, told them about a man, Jokubas, who had prospered in America. However, when they happened to meet him, they found that he was financially unstable, and struggling, proving the American Dream to be a façade. His family continues on to be exploited by many businessmen, like when they bought a house due to misleading advertisements which contained hidden expenses, and when a politician showed Jurgis how to vote. This, along with how meat packing is done for maximum profit by selling even filthy meat, shows how corrupt capitalism had made America.

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It would not be strange that this ideology takes an important role in the outcome of the story, as part of Jurgis’ “solution” and new source of hope. For the writer, of Socialist roots, the American Dream was just a mirage, directing millions of immigrants into poverty and oppression. As in most industrial cities, workers had a very tough life. They mostly lived in tenements, small flats that could hold several families, located in very poor places, and holding unsanitary conditions. This was not their only threat to their lives.

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This tragic story about the struggle of immigrants in Chicago both conflict and accommodates the popular notion of the “American Dream.” This book begins as an outstanding example of following the “American Dream.” Jurgis Rudkus and his soon-to-be-wife Ona, came to the United States of America from Lithuania, in search of better jobs, a better place to live, and an overall better impact on their entire lives. Jurgis’ famous words are also an impeccable example of the American Dream as he states, “Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money – I will work harder.”

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The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the book to describe the harsh conditions in his life. I would describe Sinclair's vision of the American dream is to be free and to do as you want. He thought that it was supposed to be different and you should be free , and to do whatever you want to do. In the book he went and moved to start over in a new life.

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Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tension in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through his novel “The Jungle”. He used the story of a Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, to show the harsh situation that immigrants had to face in the United States, the unsanitary and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking plants, as well as the tension between the capitalism and socialism in the United States during the early 1900s. In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, there were massive immigrants move into the United States, and most of them were from Europe. The protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, like many other immigrants, have the “America Dream” which they believe America is heaven to them, where they can

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The story describes the disgusting conditions and detail of the meatpacking facilities which was one of the main reasons for writing this novel. Sinclair describes how the animals were packed in the stockyards and slaughtered in unsanitary conditions. Jurgis faces the chance of death each day he arrives at work. The family is hit by debt, illness and bad weather throughout the story but still have to trudge on to pay off the debt created by the wedding. The families lose and gain unsteady jobs as the story goes on but never anything

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The injured immigrants in the factories slowly start to die off including some of jurgis' family members. Those who did not die physically begin to die emotionally. Jurgis begins to see the American dream as nothing but a façade. Jurgis and Ona's family all have to start working just to get by. The dream is lost and desperation has set in.

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he muckraking novel, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair does not only expose the secrets of the meat industry in Chicago in the early twentieth century, but tells of the hardships a family of Lithuanian immigrants had to go through when trying to create a better life in the United States. Even when the cold winter blew in and their lives in America were not off to the greatest start, “...the germ of hope was not to be kept from sprouting in their hearts” (Sinclair 69). Jurgis and his family go through many ups and downs as the novel continues, but their determination never diminishes as each person tries their hardest to find a good job and keep a high spirit. This “germ of hope” was found in the hearts and souls of thousands of immigrants in the United States at this time since

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The Jungle was worte in the 1900s by a man named Upton Sinclair. Upton Sinclair's main theme he wanted his readers to see was: the corruption, problems with immigrants, the hollowness of the American Dream, socialism, and so much more in in America . Even Though, this was just a piece of the handful of problems in America and still gave him the great title of a muckraker, which is someone who exposed the bad things in America. During the novel he gave many points, more than any other theme of just how bad America was with treating immigrants.

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Immigrants faced harsh living and working conditions, racial strife, poverty, as well as social class issues. Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle explores many of these hardships immigrants had to face through the lives of Lithuanian Immigrants. Throughout his novel, Sinclair focuses on poverty and thoughts of what America was supposed to be like to portray hardships immigrants faced when coming to America.

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Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, was published in 1906 to shed light on the harsh realities faced by the working class in America during the 20th century. The novel depicts themes of the grueling immigrant experience and the evils of capitalism. Sinclair uses these themes to inform readers of the struggle and harshness of life during this time and to represent the need for labor rights. The story begins by introducing the main character, Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant.

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The American Dream was thought of to be open and accessible to everyone who came to the United States. However, this idea was proven to be a lie in the novel by Upton Sinclair ‘The Jungle.’ The main character, Jurgis, came to America hoping to live a good life with his family but that idea was soon destroyed because he got injured at work by slipping on blood and injuring his ankle. Later, after getting out of jail he finds out that someone else is in his home. The realization that his family could not live without money hit him hard.

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However, this was rarely the situation they they found themselves in. Illustrated in Upton Sinclair’s classic protest novel, The Jungle, the story of a poor slavic immigrant family set in Packingtown, Chicago, struggling to make ends meat all while grasping for that American Dream. It becomes quickly apparent that the American Dream is just that, a dream, and that the American system only corrupts the kind, that capitalism

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The American dream is an illusion that is deeply implanted in the minds of the people, it sets a bar for life achievement and offers hope to work hard to achieve their dreams. As for Americans, they are raised in a society to where they are expected to make lots money and to have a healthy family. After all in our society success is largely based off positions of power and financial stability. For example, in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there were multiple interpretations of the ideal American dream in the 1920s. In the 1920s, due to the growth of materialism, people advertised and fancied the power of money to fulfilling their dreams.

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