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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of all that Jurgis once held dear, shows the dastardly effects of greed on something quite wholesome. Jurgis comes in contact with and gets abused by capitalistic greed continuously. These encounters lead to his mindset changing from optimistic and trusting to dubious and agitated. At the beginning, when Ona worries about the expensive fees from the saloon keeper, Jurgis says to her: “Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money-- I will work harder” (Sinclair 17). Then, later on when Jurgis has been broken down much more, he has a realization about the truth of the world he lives in; “These midnight hours were fateful ones to Jurgis; in them was the beginning of his rebellion, of his outlawry and his unbelief. He had no wit to trace back the social crime to its far sources… he only knew that he had been wronged, and that the world had wronged him; that the law, that society, with all its powers, had declared itself his foe” (Sinclair 134). Consequently Jurgis learns that hard work does not always reap success. This discovery had been preceded by many hardships due to the avarice of his fellow man. Furthermore, this lesson proves more paramount than it first appears. The notion contradicts the basis of the American Dream. The American Dream states that anyone can achieve success through hard work and perseverance. Capitalism, on the other hand, the only way to rise to the top consists of knocking down others. On page 50, Tamoszius tells Jurgis about all of this; the way of the world. He mentions that “nobody rose in Packingtown by doing good work. You could lay that down for a rule-- if you met a man who was rising in Packingtown, you met a knave” (Sinclair 50). Additionally in Chapter 4, the family buys a home from a sketchy real estate agent. Sinclair doesn’t waste a moment using this to perpetuate his point. He demonstrates that the house represents their center of family; the house represents the family’s dream and aspirations in the new world. However, the family then discovers that the house posses many issues and headaches. This shows that the house, or the American Dream, may be a wonderful idea but in practice remains unsustainable. Moreover, Packingtown uses child labor and seems to have no qualms about selling filthy, nasty meat to the American public, can be seen as just another example of the destructive nature of capitalism that Sinclair uses. Also, the women in this community are somehow even worse off than the men. They are unable to use brute strength to do many of the jobs and are left with few choices. Circumstances like this; no money, no jobs and no options, lead many women to choose a more dangerous path. Much like Marija, many women are forced into this because of a basic need to put food on the table. “But there was no place a girl could go in Packingtown, if she was particular about things of this sort; there was no place in it where a prostitute could not get along better than a decent girl” (Sinclair 50). Additionally, Sinclair describes the immigrants as almost victims of slavery, which negates a main idea in the American Dream; that anyone can achieve success.
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
does.
of all that Jurgis once held dear, shows the dastardly effects of greed on something quite wholesome. Jurgis comes in contact with and gets abused by capitalistic greed continuously. These encounters lead to his mindset changing from optimistic and trusting to dubious and agitated. At the beginning, when Ona worries about the expensive fees from the saloon keeper, Jurgis says to her: “Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money-- I will work harder” (Sinclair 17). Then, later on when Jurgis has been broken down much more, he has a realization about the truth of the world he lives in; “These midnight hours were fateful ones to Jurgis; in them was the beginning of his rebellion, of his outlawry and his unbelief. He had no wit to trace back the social crime to its far sources… he only knew that he had been wronged, and that the world had wronged him; that the law, that society, with all its powers, had declared itself his foe” (Sinclair 134). Consequently Jurgis learns that hard work does not always reap success. This discovery had been preceded by many hardships due to the avarice of his fellow man. Furthermore, this lesson proves more paramount than it first appears. The notion contradicts the basis of the American Dream. The American Dream states that anyone can achieve success through hard work and perseverance. Capitalism, on the other hand, the only way to rise to the top consists of knocking down others. On page 50, Tamoszius tells Jurgis about all of this; the way of the world. He mentions that “nobody rose in Packingtown by doing good work. You could lay that down for a rule-- if you met a man who was rising in Packingtown, you met a knave” (Sinclair 50). Additionally in Chapter 4, the family buys a home from a sketchy real estate agent. Sinclair doesn’t waste a moment using this to perpetuate his point. He demonstrates that the house represents their center of family; the house represents the family’s dream and aspirations in the new world. However, the family then discovers that the house posses many issues and headaches. This shows that the house, or the American Dream, may be a wonderful idea but in practice remains unsustainable. Moreover, Packingtown uses child labor and seems to have no qualms about selling filthy, nasty meat to the American public, can be seen as just another example of the destructive nature of capitalism that Sinclair uses. Also, the women in this community are somehow even worse off than the men. They are unable to use brute strength to do many of the jobs and are left with few choices. Circumstances like this; no money, no jobs and no options, lead many women to choose a more dangerous path. Much like Marija, many women are forced into this because of a basic need to put food on the table. “But there was no place a girl could go in Packingtown, if she was particular about things of this sort; there was no place in it where a prostitute could not get along better than a decent girl” (Sinclair 50). Additionally, Sinclair describes the immigrants as almost victims of slavery, which negates a main idea in the American Dream; that anyone can achieve success.
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
does.