Upton Sinclair was born in late September of 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland. His family relocated to New York City when he was ten years old. At the age of twenty, after completing his schooling, he decided to become a serious novelist. In 1904 Sinclair was sent to Chicago to write an exposé on the mistreatment of workers in the meatpacking industry. He spent several weeks undercover gathering the research that greatly contributed to The Jungle.
The Jungle depicts a Lithuanian family that slowly meets its demise due to the evils of capitalism. Upton Sinclair makes his views on capitalism evident by depicting Jurgis’s family as victims of the cruel and unjust economic and social systems. As immigrants, this family believed in the idealistic ‘American Dream’ only to get a first-hand experience of the destruction of
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He wants to be able to provide for his wife and make a better future for the next generation. His overall challenge is trying to win against the face of capitalism. He wants to be able to move up the social and economic ladder. Eventually he gives up all hope of a better life and embarks on a journey of criminal activity before stumbling upon a Socialist Party meeting.
Sinclair’s purpose for the novel becomes evident towards the end of the book. It is clear that the author’s blatant attack of capitalism is a means to persuade readers of the socialist alternative. Socialism is introduced as capitalism’s counterpart; where capitalism is evil and destructive, socialism is good and beneficial.
The publication of The Jungle in 1906 had a powerful affect on America, though not quite the affect that Sinclair had hoped for. His novel was meant to open people’s eyes to the poor conditions that workers are put through and the destructiveness of capitalism. However, reader’s main concern after reading this was the conditions of the meat packing plants and how their food was