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Capitalism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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During the early 1900’s, the United States of America used success and happiness as a foundation to have various individuals around the world believe that this is a country in which anyone would be able to live the so called, “American dream”. The “American dream” entitled an individual to a life where they would never have to worry about having a job, money, or food but instead, a happy life that consisted of a house with a white picket fence, a family and economic stability. In Upton Sinclair’s, “The Jungle”, the Rudkus family migrated from Lithuania to Chicago, in hopes to capture the dream that many individuals around the world seemed to grasp by migrating to America. Jurgis Rudkus, the protagonist of the novel, demonstrated the struggles …show more content…

Individuals who migrate to America, all share one common goal: a better life. In most cases, many immigrants come to this country in hopes for a better life for themselves or even families, which is exactly what Jurgis aimed to accomplish. Situations like Jurgis’ and other many immigrants who come to this country for a better life or the “American Dream” will do anything possible to work hard enough to get to that point. This is vital to recognize and understand in the social work profession because many of these individuals will find themselves coming to this country with the same mindset, possibly unable to find legal jobs which will lead them to seek illegal jobs with low pay, gruesome conditions, and illegal acts if they are not made aware and pushed into the right path. For a social worker, being able to guide those who need the knowledge and oppurtunnites to achieve the goals they wish to accomplish to the right path is what makes the central issue of Capitalism important so no individual will ever find themselves enslaved to trying to provide for their family or themselves financially or living in a “Jungle” like society where individuals will compete for a chance to work, regardless of the pay in order to achieve the “American

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