Socialism in "The Jungle"
Socialism in “The Jungle”
By Tyler Dobson
Sinclair’s The Jungle is a novel that tends to advocate for socialism as a remedy for the evils of capitalism that has dominated a society. Upton Sinclair’s piece was written in 1906, at a time when many European immigrants had migrated to the United States with the hope of becoming prosperous in their lives. However, their expectations were not met as some of them ended up being unemployed and those who managed to get jobs like Jurgis Rudkus in meat packing industry suffered horrendous working conditions. The word jungle denotes the action of dog-eat-dog competition explaining the way workers are exploited through corruption and poor working conditions. In order to inform the reader about the ugly effects of capitalism, Sinclair bases his novel in this point to indicate how the rich people took the traits of animals by becoming inhuman and mistreat their workers in the capitalistic society. The workers were dehumanized and exposed to torture by working for long duration and given low wages as a form of appreciation. The use of this animalistic connotation has helped Sinclair to successfully address the need for socialist system. This is aimed at promoting equality and good working condition at workplaces. Socialism forms the largest section in which The Jungle is tailored. It is defined as the economic system in which the workers own the entire industry instead of the few rich entrepreneurs. Workers are paid well for their work and relate well with each other. Socialism is advocated for in order to replace capitalism. On the other hand, capitalism refers to an economic system where the producers and consumers are able to source money and spend it through any means they choose. As a matter of fact, Sinclair wins the attention of many readers by illustrating in details the effects of capitalism.
He begins by informing the reader about the Lithuanian immigrants with peasant backgrounds who moved to America and
By Tyler Dobson
Sinclair’s The Jungle is a novel that tends to advocate for socialism as a remedy for the evils of capitalism that has dominated a society. Upton Sinclair’s piece was written in 1906, at a time when many European immigrants had migrated to the United States with the hope of becoming prosperous in their lives. However, their expectations were not met as some of them ended up being unemployed and those who managed to get jobs like Jurgis Rudkus in meat packing industry suffered horrendous working conditions. The word jungle denotes the action of dog-eat-dog competition explaining the way workers are exploited through corruption and poor working conditions. In order to inform the reader about the ugly effects of capitalism, Sinclair bases his novel in this point to indicate how the rich people took the traits of animals by becoming inhuman and mistreat their workers in the capitalistic society. The workers were dehumanized and exposed to torture by working for long duration and given low wages as a form of appreciation. The use of this animalistic connotation has helped Sinclair to successfully address the need for socialist system. This is aimed at promoting equality and good working condition at workplaces. Socialism forms the largest section in which The Jungle is tailored. It is defined as the economic system in which the workers own the entire industry instead of the few rich entrepreneurs. Workers are paid well for their work and relate well with each other. Socialism is advocated for in order to replace capitalism. On the other hand, capitalism refers to an economic system where the producers and consumers are able to source money and spend it through any means they choose. As a matter of fact, Sinclair wins the attention of many readers by illustrating in details the effects of capitalism.
He begins by informing the reader about the Lithuanian immigrants with peasant backgrounds who moved to America and