Upton Sinclair's Response To The Jungle

The jungle Even though The jungle by Upton Sinclair published 1906, was very influential in bringing some of the very famous meat regulation but it was not the initial goal of the book. The book’s initial goal was to expose the indignity people face, in particularly immigrants and the harsh conditions in which they had to work. The jungle was very instrumental in the reform of the packing industry and generated a huge public outcry that led to the new federal governments’ food safety laws. However, from my perspective, Upton Sinclair’s goal in writing the book was not to generate outcry, rather he was trying to show the general working conditions of people in the meat-packing industry and all other big industrial corporation and he was demonstrating capitalism is the root of the such misery. Throughout his book Sinclair reveals many shocking issues such as diseases, people missing fingers due to the environment they were working in, contaminated food being processed. Sick animals being slaughtered. The conditions of families and working kids at the ages where they shouldn't be working. Throughout the book the main characters
suffers great and loses his job and jump from one to another , goes to jail multiple times, loses his family become sick and faces all troubles things that can happen to any man. This is how Sinclair sums up “Jurgis could see all the truth now—could see himself, through the whole long course of events, the victim of ravenous vultures that had torn into his vitals and devoured him; of fiends that had racked and tortured him, mocking him, meantime, jeering in his face. Ah, God, the horror of it, the monstrous, hideous, demoniacal wickedness of it! He and his family, helpless women and children, struggling to live, ignorant and defenseless and forlorn as they were—and the enemies that had been lurking for them, crouching upon their trail…. “(Chapter 8 pg. 212). Sinclair’s novel aim was not in the act rather and the actors.
It was supposed to be, on the small pay and longer hours of work. His desired target was to solve the high demand of labor for cheaper and unhuman treatment by the big corporations and big boss. Its ambitious indentation was at a corrupted political system that aims to solve nothing. At one point Sinclair address to modern corporation as a slave driver with disregard to the outside color or race. And he called the modern warfare as a wage slave. “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 is exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it is under the system of chattel slavery." (Chapter 10, pg.
126)

Although one might consider his novel success at one side of the story and is credited for such pulling of public outcry but his aim seemed worthy far more wider, far more reaching. His aim was to authenticate all corporations work place to generate such outcry to all worker no matter what industrial block they laboring in. it doesn’t matter whether it is in automotive, petroleum or steel or gold mining. Not just meat-packing industry. His best intention was aimed at improving the working conditions for workers.it is not really success when he advocated for those change the accidentally launch a consumer base revolution for pure food. It is hundreds of years later still not success when corporation still practicing such an action with the exception of a few things on the other side of the globe. of course one can point to the today’s consumer based economy that always seeks to always cheap labor and maximizing profit. Even if it means moving across the globe to China, Africa or Bangladeshi or Peru. Sinclair once stated “I aimed for the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”