The American Dream In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

The American Dream within The Jungle The Jungle is the account of an immigrant who discovers the American Dream can only be a fable under America’s capitalist system. Upton Sinclair wrote the novel after spending some weeks working in the meat packing industry, basing many of the events and conditions described in the novel on the notes he took firsthand. "[The Jungle] is remembered as a stomach-turning exposé of unsanitary conditions and deceitful practices in the meat packing industry; as such it aroused the ire of a whole nation, from President Theodore Roosevelt on down, and it contributed enormously to the landmark passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906" (Dickstein 49). But Sinclair was more than a muckraker looking for the next
Owning a house is one of their dreams for their life in America, a dream shared by many immigrants. It seems like a wonderful deal, the house is alleged to be new and it is affordable, but Teta Elizbieta is nervous when she signs the contract, as it is written in English and she only understands Lithuanian. The family then comes to realize how they had been deceived when they discover they need to pay insurance on the house. "...That night came Jurgis, grim and determined, requesting that the agent would be good enough to inform him, once and for all, as to all the expenses they were liable for...the deed was signed, and so the agent had no longer anything to gain by keeping quiet" (Sinclair 75). They had been conned out of their money, the only new thing about the house is the paint, and the expenses are more than they can handle. "…They realize that their combined salaries would not be sufficient to meet the house payments and also provide other necessities… they all know that like many others before them they would sacrifice everything to meet the payments only to lose everything in the end, which they do" (Elliott 94). Losing their house spells the beginning of the end for Jurgis’ family; Ona summarily dies during childbirth after Jurgis, who has been in jail, realizes they have lost their home. Ona’s death is symbolic of the death of the family’s hopes for
Chicago’s democracy is a cover for the businessmen that truly administer to the city (Sinclair 232). Jurgis makes more money as a political ‘worker’ than he ever could while toiling in the stockyards, and all he had to do was buy votes for his candidate. However, his earnings do not compare to the political bosses who glean money from public projects or catch early wind of the results of the horse races. "Men are not necessarily evil, but within capitalism immoral behavior is systematically rewarded" (Yoder 14). The novel shows that, despite the claim from the American Dream that one could get anywhere through honest hard work, the only way to advance economically is through deception and graft. The famous rights propagated by the American government are no panacea in the jungle. The law can be bent to the whim of the highest