The novel The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, uses the story of an immigrant family from Lithuania to represent the trials and errors of an immigrant family during the Industrial Revolution. The Jungle’s main story introduces Jurgis Rudkus, an immigrant arriving in Chicago, who struggles to work in harsh conditions and provide for his large family. Upton Sinclair exposes the inner workings of how immigrants survive the battles of poverty and how the injustices within the government can drive a person wild.
Upton Sinclair uses The Jungle to display the horrific experiences that immigrant families face when coming to America. Most urban populations during the Industrial Revolution are immigrants, which increases the competition for work. Jurgis becomes quite hopeful for him and his family's future in America; however, once settled in Chicago, Jurgis realizes how hard he must work to support his family. Jurgis compares his family to being the same as trapped rats (Sinclair 77) and they had no way of getting out of their desperation (Sinclair 118). This comparison indicates that Jurgis and his family feel trapped in their
…show more content…
The Jungle provides insight into specific events like this, when Jurgis’ house is given away, even though he paid for the house (Sinclair 203). Jurgis has discovered his house was sold to another family, who do not know they too have been swindled into paying for a rental house. This event represents how vulnerable immigrant families are to the schemes of Americans, but also to the language barrier between English and Lithuanian. The majority of immigrants are not able to make enough money, because they cannot understand English, which causes them to be more susceptible to being ripped off. Being an immigrant in a new city is terrifying and not having money to eat, have shelter or even warm clothing becomes overwhelming to Jurgis and his