Capitalism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
The Jungle, an enticing novel that comments on the poor conditions for the workers and products in the meatpacking industry. The main character, Jurgis, goes through many hardships throughout his life like, the death of his wife and two children, losing his jobs many times and being injured and screwed over. He slowly loses his idealistic “American Dream” state of mind. Many of Jugis’ problems have something to do with the greed and corruption of others. When looking through the psychological lens, it becomes apparent that Upton Sinclair does not believe that capitalism and the “American Dream” can coincide. Throughout the novel, Jurgis slowly loses his family from his harmful decisions and unfortunate circumstances. This disintegration
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With capitalism like it exists in Packingtown, where only the wealthy and native-born people can succeed. “Here was a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave-drivers; under such circumstances immorality was exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it was under the system of chattel slavery” (Sinclair 89). So, when Sinclair says this, he means that the corrupt and greedy politicians/capitalists take advantage of the immigrants and exploit their notion of the American Dream; then become a great deal richer. It becomes so much of a system that some may learn to work it in their favor, which only adds to the corruption and deceit. The American Dream remains too pure to ever be able to coexist with capitalism that has been left unchecked like that. Upton Sinclair’s message in The Jungle can be seen easily, the American Dream cannot exist in the same world as capitalism. Jurgis learns this in the novel after facing many hardships. He also learns that hard work does not always guarantee success, like the American Dream leads him to expect.
Finally the exploitation and fraud prohibits the dream to ever be true. These reasons are some of the many that motivate Sinclair to tell the story the way he
With capitalism like it exists in Packingtown, where only the wealthy and native-born people can succeed. “Here was a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave-drivers; under such circumstances immorality was exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it was under the system of chattel slavery” (Sinclair 89). So, when Sinclair says this, he means that the corrupt and greedy politicians/capitalists take advantage of the immigrants and exploit their notion of the American Dream; then become a great deal richer. It becomes so much of a system that some may learn to work it in their favor, which only adds to the corruption and deceit. The American Dream remains too pure to ever be able to coexist with capitalism that has been left unchecked like that. Upton Sinclair’s message in The Jungle can be seen easily, the American Dream cannot exist in the same world as capitalism. Jurgis learns this in the novel after facing many hardships. He also learns that hard work does not always guarantee success, like the American Dream leads him to expect.
Finally the exploitation and fraud prohibits the dream to ever be true. These reasons are some of the many that motivate Sinclair to tell the story the way he