The Jungle Upton Sinclair Language Analysis

Upton Sinclair developed his thoughts on the plight of immigrants into Chicago extremely well throughout his novel, The Jungle. Through the portrayal of the Lithuanian family's struggles and hardships, Sinclairs tells the truths of the corruption and immigrant experience in Chicago in the early 1900s. The gruesome details of the meat packaging industry show how truly unjust and disturbing the working conditions were during these times. Upton goes on to depict the unfair living conditions of the Lithuanian immigrants as well as the immigrants before and after their time in Packington. After Sinclair released the serial form of his novel in a Socialist newspaper in 1905, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was soon to follow. This act prevented

The gruesome depictions is what formed the image of the harsh conditions into the audience minds. Sinclair’s quote, “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident hit it in the stomach”, is in direct correlation to his imagery throughout The Jungle. Upton attempts to appeal to his audience’s emotions and show the hardships of immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The audience however focused on the disgusting process of how the meat was handled in the meat packaging industry. Sinclair describes how the spoiled meat would be scattered amongst the rest of the meat in preparation to be canned or packaged. It is also described how Jurgis, the main character, comes to realize that the company he works for sells diseased meat with the label “deviled ham” or “potted ham”. The contents of these cans could be a mixture of leftover bits or entrails from a large number of slaughtered animals. These depictions truly hit the reader in their stomachs not their emotional ties to immigrant’s lifestyles. Although they may have later emotional due to the death of Jurgis child. However, the spoiled canned food is directly related to the reader for it directly affects them and their dinner

The novel points out specific reasons for the investigation to begin. Jurgis first job included sweeping the entrails of the slaughtered animals into trap doors. The description was enough to make anyone reading gag. The character later learns how those entrails were later processed and served to the public. The entrails not being properly disposed of as well as the repackaging of spoiled meats both endanger the health of the workers and the consumers. Throughout the novel, the audience learns how often socially unjust acts are committed in this industry. For instance, the government inspector who checks slaughtered pigs for signs of tuberculosis often does not check several carcasses. These are extremely disturbing facts that the public is just now hearing of. The novel also shows how the lack of sanitation in factories lead to diseases in the product as well as its workers. These truly shows how corrupt the factory owners are. These factory owners truly value their profits more than the health of their workers and consumers. All of these disturbing truths are brought to light more and more throughout the novel. After the release of The Jungle, there was an immediate reaction to this crisis in the meat packaging industry. The Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 and the Federal Meat Inspection Act followed as an attempt of the United States government to stabilize this growing