Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle"

Paper Summary:

In this paper, the author argues that Upton Sinclair's novel "The Jungle" has been largely misunderstood for the last one hundred years. Rather than attacking the meat packing industry, Sinclair's ultimate purpose in writing "The Jungle" was to highlight the atrocious conditions that capitalism produced for uneducated workers, especially immigrants. In this, Sinclair sincerely hoped to persuade his readers to convert to socialism and overthrow the wage tyranny of all capitalist industries, not just the meatpacking industry. The paper also considers the historical impact of Sinclair's work, namely the founding of the Food and Drug Administration.

From the Paper:

"Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is an excellent work of fiction. It capably explains the living and working conditions that most European immigrants had to endure upon coming to American in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Sinclair used The Jungle to discuss not only the deplorable way of life that immigrants faced in America, but also to support his belief that socialism was the superior political ideology of the day. Here, the author will discuss the perceived purpose of The Jungle--namely to attack the meatpacking industry--and then demonstrate how this was only a glancing concern of Sinclair's when he wrote the novel. Sinclair's ultimate purpose, even if it was unsuccessful, was to highlight the atrocious conditions that capitalism produces for uneducated workers, especially immigrants. In this, Sinclair sincerely hoped to persuade his readers to convert to socialism and overthrow the wage tyranny of all capitalist industries, not just the meatpacking industry. For the last one hundred years, Sinclair's purpose in writing The Jungle has been largely misunderstood and misinterpreted."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Blackwell, Jon. "1906: Rumble Over 'The Jungle'". The Capital Century, 1900 - 1999. Accessed: 2006. <http://www.capitalcentury.com/1906.html>.
• Feldman, Bob. "Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle': A 100th Anniversary Retrospective", 2005. Toward Freedom. <http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/585/57/>.
• Liukkonen, Petri. "Upton Beall Sinclair (1878-1968)", 2003. <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/sinclair.htm>.
• Madwin, Gayle. "The Jungle by Upton Sinclair", 2005. Book Review, Live Journal. <http://queerbychoice.livejournal.com/474983.html>.
• Sinclair, Upton. "The Jungle", 1906. Transcription: David Meltzer, Christy Phillips, Scott Coulter, Leroy Smith <http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sinclair-upton/works/jungle/>.

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