The Jungle

The Jungle is a novel, written in 1906, depicting the horrible conditions of life in the Chicago stockyards from the point of view of Jurgis Rudkus. The author, Upton Sinclair, spent six weeks among lowest and poorest of Chicago as research for this book.
Jurgis moves from Lithuania to Chicago with his fiance's family and his father with hopes of riches and prosperity. But as they first set foot upon America, they begin to get scammed and cheated. When they make it to Chicago, they are lost and helpless, but are luckily reunited with a friend from Lithuania who helps them. The family gets settled down, but the men are immediately forced to go and find work. After they do, they situation begins to go downhill. Injuries, death, and crime plague them as they struggle for money.
As a Socialist, Upton's scenes of struggle are meant to act as Socialist propaganda and as protest to wage slavery. However, the largest response that the book received was horror at the atrocities in the processes at the stockyards and factories. Though few pages are dedicated to it, the depiction of using the hogs dead of cholera, the tubercular cows, the poisoned rats and on occasion how a person might fall in the vat of lard, etc these caused an outcry of the people and government. A direct result of The Jungle was the passage of the Pure Food Laws. There was no increase in socialist vote and the revolution didn't appear to be any closer, there was only a great commotion about the production of meat. Sinclair said himself, "I aimed at the public's heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach.". However, he did achieve, as his editor pointed out, " a permanent and constructive reform in an industry that touches and affects every human being"

The Jungle is relatively easy to read, the print is small and the pages are crammed, but the story moves well and you are never out of touch with the struggle of the characters. This is a realist novel that, if you are having a bad day, will force you to realize and appreciate how lucky you are. This novel also helps you understand what socially was going on in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. I would recommend this book to all because even if you dont appreciate it, it will give you a culture shock and expand your perception of working life in America.