StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Life Story of Upton Sinclair - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
This work called "The Life Story of Upton Sinclair" focuses on "The Jungle" as a novel that depicts the unpleasant conditions within which workers had to work in meatpacking plants in order to earn a living. The author outlines an attempt by Sinclair to describe the working conditions of the United States according to his socialist views…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.7% of users find it useful
The Life Story of Upton Sinclair
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Life Story of Upton Sinclair"

The life story of Upton Sinclair The Jungle is a novel that depicts the unpleasant conditions within which workers had to work in meat packing plants in order to earn a living. Mainly, it is a description of the experiences of Upton Sinclair when working undercover for six months in an attempt to gather information for an article he was writing. These working conditions are described so vividly that anyone who reads them might become revolted by the conditions in these meatpacking plants. The novel is most realistic, as it follows the life of an immigrant, Jurgis, and his family who comes to America in an attempt to have a better life. In doing so, he ends up working in a meatpacking plant, where the exact opposite of his dreams come to take place. It must be noted that many of the people who ended up working in these plants under sometimes appalling conditions tended to be immigrants and these had no other choice other than to go on doing the same jobs because they had no education and had little knowledge of English. It was therefore difficult for them to recognize the injustices in their lives and in doing so work towards escaping such injustices. Hence, The Jungle is an attempt by Sinclair to describe the working conditions of the United States according to his socialist views and a way to push the American public into taking action against such conditions, since they are the ones who are the largest beneficiaries of the labor of the immigrants. The Jungle is a political novel whose main purpose is to propagate the socialist view of the ideal America. It is an attempt by Upton Sinclair to show how workers in the industries in the United States worked under bad conditions to earn a living. One of the main themes that can be found in this novel which are an obvious part of the socialist views of Sinclair is that of exploitation. The factory owners and managers exploit their workers in every way possible and treat them more like slaves than as free human beings (Boylan 166). Among the most appalling things, which the factory managers do, is to abuse sexually some of their female workers. This can be seen when Ona, Jurgis’s wife is raped by her employer, with the latter threatening that she would lose her job, if she failed to give him sexual favors. Moreover, many of the factory workers have no job security because they can lose their jobs at any moment at the slightest pretext. An example of this sis when Jurgis ends up losing his job because of an injury sustained while working. While this would not, in normal circumstances, get him to lose his job, in Jurgis’ case, it is different because he is not aware of his rights. When it is seen that he will not be able to be as productive as before, he is fired, and this is done without his being provided with any compensation by his employer. While it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the workplace is safe for his employees, this is not the case in The Jungle. Although it is the employer’s fault when accidents take place in the workplace, the employer does not take steps to improve the working conditions. Instead, workers who get injured lose their jobs, and the families of those who lose their lives are not compensated. One of the main themes that are dealt with in this novel is that of the evils brought about by capitalism and the idea that socialism is its cure. For most of his political life, Upton Sinclair was a dedicated socialist whose actions and works tended to upset many of the mainstream Americans who were dedicated capitalists (Seed 470). While Sinclair did not call out for the abolition of capitalism, he advocated for the inclusion of socialism into the American way of life. This would have ensured that there was a balance in the economy, with the people in the lower classes in society being provided with the opportunity for advancement. Throughout The Jungle, Sinclair shows how the family of Jurgis is destroyed by the cruelties that are brought about by capitalism. Most of the disastrous and tragic things that happen to his family are as a result of their lack of a stable financial base through which to support them. Their faith in the so called American Dream is tarnished as the realities of the capitalist ways that are prevalent in America are felt directly. They turn from a family that is full of hope for a better future, to one which gets involved in some of the most abhorrent practices in society. Sinclair’s narrative is one designed to show that capitalism is evil and that the best way to get rid of it is to adopt communism. In the novel, the American Dream is considered to be just that, a dream and this is because of the fact that despite moving from Lithuania to America in anticipation of having a better life, this does not happen for Jurgis’ family and instead, they end up living in worse conditions than those in their home country (Whitt 171). This can be considered to be a parallel of the life which Upton Sinclair’s family lived due to their relative poverty. While both his parents’ families were of aristocratic backgrounds, his father’s family had been ruined during the American Civil War and despite being in America, they had not managed to regain the wealth and prominence that had once been theirs. Instead, Sinclair’s father had to become a salesman in order to make ends meet, something he barely could because of his alcoholism. Sinclair therefore spent some of his childhood with his wealthy maternal family and because of this, experienced both poverty and wealth. In The Jungle, through the portrayal of the tragedies which are encountered by Jurgis and those around him, Sinclair comes to reveal the ugliness that is capitalism, and his belief that the lot of the poor in America has to be improved for the American Dream to finally come true. He used this theme throughout his political career and despite not being able to gain any elective position; he ended up being influential in other matters. In conclusion, The Jungle is an influential novel whose main endeavor was to prove Sinclair’s view that capitalism was an evil practice. Instead, there is the recommendation for the adoption of socialism as the best way of improving the lives of those who have been deprived in society. Sinclair wanted the American public to see the evils which were brought about by the greed and inhumanity of those who practiced capitalism. The unfortunate working conditions that the poor had to undergo everyday of their lives to make their employers wealthier than they already were is a recurring theme in the novel. While this was the novel’s original intention, the public did not come to view it the way Sinclair did and instead, they came to look upon it as a revelation of the unclean environment through which the food they consumed was processed. In the end, The Jungle failed to represent the real intentions of its author and instead, it became a revelation of the food health issues that were prevalent in the United States. The novel was a representation of the political views of Upton Sinclair but it ended up coming into the service of the larger meat processing plants at the expense of the smaller ones. Works Cited Boylan, James. "The Long and the Short of the Jungle." Journalism History 34.3 (2008): 165-7. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. Seed, David. "Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair." Journal of American Studies 41.2 (2007): 470-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. Whitt, Jan. "From the Jungle to Food Lion: The History Lessons of Investigative Journalism." Journalism History 34.3 (2008): 170-3. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(The Life Story of Upton Sinclair Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words, n.d.)
The Life Story of Upton Sinclair Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1793760-factory-farming-and-vegetarianism-movement
(The Life Story of Upton Sinclair Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
The Life Story of Upton Sinclair Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1793760-factory-farming-and-vegetarianism-movement.
“The Life Story of Upton Sinclair Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1793760-factory-farming-and-vegetarianism-movement.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Life Story of Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclairs novel the Jungle as an instrument to describe the rise of progressivism in America

upton sinclair was, as his narration suggests, a supporter of Socialism.... upton sinclair was, as his narration suggests, a supporter of Socialism.... Sinclair presented the story of a newly wed couple with the protagonist Jurgis Rudkus, who belongs to a somewhat poor background, marrying and moving to Chicago with his family in the hopes of making it big there.... hellip; sinclair sought out to highlight the commercialist capitalism that defined the many aspects of American society that rendered the conditions of the country almost unacceptable for immigrants....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Challenges faced by LMVH

Introduction: LVMH is one of the well-established conglomerate headquartered in Paris, France offering luxurious brands throughout the globe.... It is divided into five main groups consisting of companies responsible for prestigious brands.... Its commitment to constant growth is evident from its continuous expanding business....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Capitalism and the American Dream: Analyzing Upton Sinclairs the Jungle

The other theme is the indictment of capitalism and it is apparent in the way that the author sinclair describes how the workers are being abused and how their rights are... They soon found out however, that life was not easier in America.... They fell into heavy debt and then put in money to buy a house, only to find out that the house is decrepit and run-down....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Plight of Workers

Date: The plight of workers upton sinclair's novel, The Jungle, is an exposition of the filth and exploitation in the meat packing industry in Chicago in the early twentieth century.... The entire macabre situation is captured through the life of an immigrant Lithuanian family.... The ensuing struggle between the rich industrialist and the poor workers is a perfect opportunity for sinclair to justify his socialist tenets.... hellip; Chicago provides an appropriate backdrop for the story due its rapid industrial growth attracting millions of poor immigrant who provides cheap labor....
4 Pages (1000 words) Assignment

Upton Sinclairs Book The Jungle

upton sinclair's book The Jungle is a thinly veiled support piece for the concept of socialism, but he pulls it off well by placing the situation at the level of the poor working class of his time.... Ona's death and the death of their The Jungle upton sinclair's book The Jungle is a thinly veiled support piece for the concept of socialism, but he pulls it off well by placing the situation at the level of the poor working class of his time.... Jurgis Rudkus and his family are all brought together at the beginning of the… sinclair does this to make it clear that this is a family just like every family in America and has just as much right to ‘the pursuit of happiness' as everyone who lives in this country....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

The Jungle Novel from Marxism Theory and Freud Theory

In The Jungle, upton sinclair elaborates about many social ills that bedevil society mainly due to the greed of a minority.... hellip; Sinclair uses the story of immigrants who come to America in search of opportunities to illustrate the evil of capitalism.... Sinclair uses the story of immigrants who come to America in search of opportunities to illustrate the evil of capitalism.... The jobs involve hard labor with unsafe working conditions, as well as little regard for the life of individual workers....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Evolution Of The Women Rights In The United States

sing the story of a person to describe the changing roles of women over a certain period can be a double edge sword.... As it is, there are pros and cons when it comes to using the story of the subject as the main source of information for writing the paper.... he advantages of using the story of the subject as the main source of information are that it lends character to the paper and it gives a more poignant human interest angle.... By using the story of the subject as the focal point of the paper will allow you to get another perspective of what really happened during that time and how the people involved in the events that transpired during that period reacted to these events....
7 Pages (1750 words) Term Paper

Analysis of Margarets Case of Sale of Three Terraced Houses, Richmans Use of the Car Park

From the paper "Analysis of Margaret's Case of Sale of Three Terraced Houses, Richman's Use of the Car Park" it is clear that the fact that Richman's guests may be inconvenienced by his lack of available parking spaces in no way restricts Richman's enjoyment of the use of the land.... hellip; Easement by prescription can be ruled out as the prescribed period is 20 consecutive years of uninterrupted use of the servient tenement....
13 Pages (3250 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us