The Jungle
For the novel, I read the book “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair. The book addresses several issues, including immigrant rights, predatory lending, food safety, and ethics and corruption in politics.
The book starts with an immigrant family and the main character is a young man named Jurgis. The family decided to settle in Chicago and Jurgis would try to get a job in the meatpacking industry, which was a major employer. Jurgis gets a job, but he quickly realizes things were not what they seemed. He endured long hours and sub standard conditions. The book also points out the unsafe practices in the way which the meat was handled, making it unsafe for people to consume. Nonetheless, the meat still went out to market. This book helped effect policy changes that made meat production safer.
In time, the family purchases a home with their meager savings. They live there for a time, but after missing a payment, the home is repossessed and the are unable to recover any of the equity. They later find out that the fine language in the contract allowed them to be taken advantage of. Because of all the tragedies the family endures, including the loss of their young son from malnutrition and illness, Jurgis finds politics. He becomes interested in the process as a way of fighting back against the injustices he and his family endured. Unfortunately, what he finds is that the system is corrupt and powered by money.
While the book is long and depressing due to the constant troubles the family endures, it is a good book and I would recommend it to read. I think it’s interesting to see how tough life was for immigrants during this time period and before regulations to protect them went into effect.
As I think I said in class - this is a first rate version of a polemic. What concerns me about the novel is that I think Sinclair, totally lacking in subtlety, tries to paint a one sided picture. I will guarantee you that everyone of the incidents that he recounts for Jurvis happened to some immigrant families. But I am also willing to bet that the unrelenting torture that Sinclair painted to make a point, was not the norm for immigrant families in the 19th and early 20th century.
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