Jurgis Moral Values In The Jungle, By Upton Sinclair

In the novel, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Jurgis’s alienation exposes society’s moral values. Jurgis Rudkins is a Lithuanian immigrant first arrives in America filled with optimism and strongly believes in the American dream. Slowly, his optimism dwindles after experiencing the harsh working conditions and corruption of capitalism. As he begins to distance himself from his family, he turns to crime and alcohol until eventually deciding to join the socialist movement, hoping for a better future. Jurgis is left helpless, as the trails build up and loses hope, he walks into the bar “how much is the bottle?’ he said. ‘I want to get drunk (182).” The light he had once had in his eyes had worn out, he was left desolate. America served to be an unforgiving land rather than the more hoped of “land of opportunities.” There was no justice for the working class “a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of
He was forced to work day and night in order to just provide the basic necessities for his family to survive. His desires, his feelings nonexistent but as a pawn in a rich business-man’s game of greed. This placed him and his family distant dwindling what little they had.
“These midnight hours were fateful ones to Jurgis; in them was the beginning of his rebellion, of his outlawry and his unbelief (168).” Jurgis was taken away from his family and placed into jail after beating Ona’s boss who raped her. In prison he was beaten down and his innocence is all but gone. He turns to crime in order to get back at the system which has cursed him into this