A Book Review Of Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

Alexandra Ayres
History
April 13, 2013
Book Review of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair, and it first appeared in a Socialist newspaper. It has become a classic not only for the heart-rending story in the pages, but because of deeper social and political commentary within it. It tells a sad story of the harsh realities that awaited many immigrants as they came over to America in the early 1900’s. It is not known how much of this is based on truth, and how much was for an entertaining aspect or to hook the reader. At the time of the story America was blooming and industrializing. It was becoming the talk of the world, and many foreigners were coming over with
the hopes of freedom and prosperity. But many came with false hope sparked by a family member or friend who was lucky and became wealthy. The main character of this book is Jurgis Rudkis, a Lithuanian, and takes place during his wedding feast after his marriage to Ona Lukeszaite. They had decided to go to America to start their new lives with a few members of their family: Marija Berczynskas, Ona’s cousin, Jonas, the brother of Ona’s stepmother, Teta Elzbieta, Onas stepmother, a few of her children, and Jurgis father, Dede Antanas. Everyone has a very optimistic attitude in the beginning, and they are all able to find jobs fairly easily, though the jobs come with low wages and harsh work conditions. The family decides to make an investment in a house, and they pool all their money together to buy a shabby house. Unfortunately, the contract was full of hidden fees, and they find the payments quite hard to make. Jurgis had expected to be able to support the family, but soon the children and Ona are working as well. Dede Antanas quickly dies because of the deplorable working conditions. Bad goes to worse, and soon Jurgis gets hurt on the job because of the hazardous working conditions. He receives no immediate medical treatment and also receives no workman’s compensation. When he returns to work, he finds that he has been replaced and begins looking for other employment. Jonas is unable to stand the misery and misfortunes, and he simply leaves without a word to the family. Marija has been courted by Tamoszius, but they are never able to marry because all of their money goes to helping the family.
The breaking point is when Ona does not come for a second night and Jurgis goes looking for her.
He finds that she was been dishonest about where she was and when she comes home he flies in a rage until she finally confesses that her boss had raped her, and made her job dependent on her giving him sexual favors. Jurgis immediately storms out and attacks her boss Connor, resulting in arrest and imprisonment. The family then is unable to support themselves, and is on the verge of starvation when they lose the house. When Jurgis is released from jail he tracks down his family to see the Ona is quite ill and giving birth to the baby. There are complications because they were unable to get a doctor, and Ona dies during childbirth with the baby. Jurgis goes on a drinking binge, but he soon finds work to support his other child Antanas. One day, Antanas wanders into the street and drowns. Jurgis reaches his breaking point and runs away to live in the countryside doing work for farmers for food and
shelter.
He returns and soon goes back to jail for attacking a bartender for swindling him out of a hundred dollar bill he procured while begging. He meets Jack Duane, a criminal, and upon release begins to commit crimes with him. They make very good money, but Jurgis soon stops committing crime and begins to start a political career for Mike Scully. There is soon a strike, and Jurgis returns to work and makes a substantial amount of money. Once again he sees Phil Connor and attacks him and then loses all of the money he saved up. He eventually reunites with his family to find that Marija is now a prostitute. He turns to socialism for comfort, and the book ends while he is at a rally the speaker telling them that Chicago will one day belong to the people. This ending could almost be considered social propaganda, more than a hopeful ending. The entire book took on a different theme after Jurgis was exposed to socialism. This is one of the main literary criticisms of The Jungle. The reader is really made to feel for the characters because of how they are initially depicted in the novel.
Jurgis is really used to gain sympathy for the situation in the novel because he does not really possess any character flaws. At the beginning of the novel, he is strong, motivated, optimistic, and devoted to his family. Whenever anything goes wrong, he promises to fix it by working harder because he believes that he can achieve the American dream through hard work. Any time that he acts uncharacteristically, such as drinking or leaving his family, it is because of oppressive conditions of Packingtown. He completely represents a portrait of the working class and how capitalism fails this
class. Marija is depicted as a strong woman who gets what she wants and is able to hold things together quite well. She is quite concerned about appearances, and has an emphasis on doing what is right and proper. In the beginning, she runs the wedding and ensures that the musicians do not stop playing because she is so set on everything being perfect. Her becoming a prostitute is a complete shock to the reader. It shows again how the deplorable conditions force individuals to act out of character and do whatever is needed out of necessity. The stockyards can be considered a character because of the impact and the effects they have on the family. Sinclair develops the stockyards, through physical description, comments of other characters, and direct commentary, more than any other character in The Jungle.