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The American Dream: The Real Jungle By Upton Sinclair

525 Words3 Pages

Selene Villegas Professor Pacheco History 17B - MW 1pm 28 September 2015 The Real Jungle The American Dream is the ultimate goal for all immigrants when coming to the states. It has a rough path to it that most times tends to be vacant and unreachable due to corruption in American Labor. This has always been a controversial topic and constant struggle for all citizens, immigrant or not. Different experiences, different perspectives, but in the end this brutal industry full of capitalism remains. In the world of economic competition that we live in today, many thrive and many are left to dig through trashcans. One intense example of this struggle is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. In this novel we learn about Jurgis Rudkus and the devastating obstacles he, along with his family had to experience in the 1900s. …show more content…

After arriving in Packingtown, the center of Chicago’s meatpacking industry, Jurgis and his family soon realize it is a grimy and dangerous place to live and find it difficult to find a job. Assuming Lithuanian’s culture is similar in the states Jurgis and his wife commenced the wedding planning only to leave them with a large unexpected debt. As the man of the house, Jurgis plans to seek out for a good paying job to begin his journey towards the American Dream; which portrays the idea that if a man is lazy, he might not do so well, but is a man wants to work and educate himself and try to create a fortune, there is nothing standing in his

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The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

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Jurgis and his family went to purchase a house but found out they will be paying monthly, which resembles more of a rent based system than a purchase. On top of moving into a new house they have learned that the payments also have an interest fee on top of their monthly amount. One of their neighbors decides to share a story with them about other families that have not been able to pay off the house and have been evicted which highlights the corrupt nature of the landlords. It also points out that the families before them have had to rely on a key wage earner for the monthly payments and when they are overcome by disease or injury from the stockyards they lose the house. Unfortunately, Jurgis’s family is effected by the diseases from the stockyards as well but they do not have time to take off work in order

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Summary Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

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1. In 1906, a book by Upton Sinclair called “The Jungle” pictured the filthy conditions in the Chicago meat industry, that caused a furor, whereby the Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed in response to the outrage of public. However, there are no clear penalties and courts are not doing a good job. Therefore, FDA was created to enforce laws. 2.

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

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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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Summary Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

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Millions of people each day go to the store and purchase meat, produce, and medicine, without worrying if it’s safe, or whether it may be contaminated with things like paint stripper or cocaine. Prior to 1906, there was no organization to monitor whether or not any food or drug contained what it said, let alone if it was safe to be consumed. Even though legislation wouldn’t come for many more years, research into food safety dates all the way back to 1862 when scientist Charles M. Wetherill, who worked for the Department of Agriculture, began testing samples of food for purity. Wetherill’s first project focused on the alcohol content in wine but later led to him and other scientists focusing on problems such as contaminated milk from cows with

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'The Jungle' By Upton Sinclair

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The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair was an expose on the life of those who lived in Packingtown, Chicago. Packingtown was where most of the people who was looking for work lived, it was a very crowded city. Job openings were scarce and most of the jobs were very unsafe. Most of the people in this part of town were poor, so they did not really have much doubts of food,. The Jungle exposed the horrific work conditions, the poor food quality, and the deceitfulness of the business owners.

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Review Of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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Jurgis started off firmly believing on his American dream of having a better life where he would work hard and earn lots of money. He took up work in a meatpacking plant where he had to sweep blood and body parts of slaughtered cattle. The job was unsafe and the conditions were bitter but he continued working a he was happy to get a job so fast. In the packinghouses the condition were deplorable, every part of the animal was used to make profit. Even spoiled meat was marked as good and sold out to public.

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Chapter Summary Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

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After reading through the second and third chapter I realized that this all is taking place in the past, when this Lithuanian family first arrived in America. I also think that this family is being exploited by the meatpacking company for cheap labor. Another thing I noticed is that the Jurgis seemed to not have been phased by the horrors of going into the slaughter house while the rest of the characters were disgusted by it. He almost seemed to be fond of it, but I think this place will slowly, but surely break down his spirit and eagerness for work. After reading through the second and third chapter I realized that this all was taking place in the past.

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Occasion: The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

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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.

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The Struggle Of Immigrants In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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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 Economic Tension In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

1899 Words | 8 Pages

There are many other traps around America that deceive the immigrants because their weakness of not knowing English and the desire of getting a great life in America which lead them unpreparedly get fooled by the businessmen. These traps prevented the immigrants from leaving America, because of the significant amount of debt that they have to pay each month, which forced them to keep working and become the slave of this capitalistic society in America. Unfortunately, even they work very hard, in most of the time they will not get anything in return, such that Jurgis’s family cannot even keep the house at the of the book and many of family members’ health destroyed by the harsh working conditions in the

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The Germ Of Hope In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

597 Words | 3 Pages

Jurgis and the rest of his family kept high hopes although they suffered multiple deaths and losses of jobs throughout the novel. The theme of determination is heavily emphasized in The Jungle as Sinclair chronicles Jurgis’ journey of working in the stockyards of Chicago as he suffers many losses in both his work and family lives. Jurgis’ spirit does wane in parts of the novel, but he powers through with hope in himself and the nation in which he immigrated to. The wintertime delivered extremely difficult times for the family, but their belief in America could not be faltered because their determination and optimism brought out the best in each family member. Finding a purpose in life is another prominent theme in The Jungle since Jurgis, in particular, went in many different directions when trying to find his way.

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Symbolism In The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

2449 Words | 10 Pages

In fact, just as a tiger would, Jurgis “sunk his teeth into the man’s cheek; […] he was dripping with blood, and little ribbons of skin were hanging in his mouth” (187). The use of these comparisons to animals creates a jungle like atmosphere for the reader within the capitalist urban environment which has an extremely unforgiving nature. In the urban jungle of Chicago that Sinclair writes about, the immigrant workers are the weaker animals fighting for survival in which the wealthy capitalist prey upon to build vast fortunes of

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152 Words | 1 Pages

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, is a 1906 documentation of the atrocious meat packing industry in America. The novel portrays the corrupt and harsh conditions of immigrants in the United States. Jurgis and his family symbolize a typically immigrant family of the time period and what they endured. The primary problem in the book is the health violations and political corruption of Chicago during the 20th century. “Power corrupts, and government is a source of power, you have it in the City Council, you have it in the state Legislature, you have it in the Congress of the United States, so, that continues.

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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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The 19th century was the era of the Gilded Age, where the economy was booming, bringing great changes that affected the lives of workers and entrepreneurs. During this period, there was a large influx of immigrants that were coming to America to look for job opportunities. The migration of immigrants proved useful as a source for cheap labor, allowing an even higher rise in the U.S. economy. While American industrialization may have benefited the upper class of the American society, the effects were opposite to the workers of the lower classes. This problem was especially worse for immigrant workers as their belief in the so-called American dream has been worn down due to the misery they had to endure.

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