Review of Upton Beall Sinclair's The Jungle

Upton Beall Sinclair, one of America’s well known and most influential writers, writes The Jungle, which is a portrayal of appalling conditions immigrants faced when escaping from their home country in search of economic and religious freedom, prosperity, and a “new life.” In the book, Rudkus family moves from Lithuania, settling in the Packingtown, a section of Chicago, where the meat packing industry is most central, and where all their hopes and dreams for a splendid future are trampled down with cruel, withering reality. 

The main character, Jugris Rudkus, is a personification of all immigrants of the time seeking salvation, but finding suffering instead. In the early chapters, he is a buoyant young man, optimistic, and energetic, and subsequently, one notices his apparent physical and moral distortion. This essay aims to identify some of the values addressed in book, such as: equality, religion, and mission, which are discussed in Sinclair’s The Jungle. A profound elaboration helps to envision Sinclair’s use of these values. The book has a tremendous impact on the society, causing the public to reconsider the system of the workers and to have more control over it. 

Equality 

Equality was and still is a pivotal concern in America. Even the name of the book, (The Jungle), speaks for itself. The book is an embodiment of all the working immigrants who are being treated as savages at work. The immigrants, despite all their efforts, were suffering from the realms of the society. The working class is unequal to the rich masters who were exploiting the working class, making them work enormous hours at horrible conditions, with no insurance, and indifferent to all their problems.