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Upton Sinclair's the Jungle (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

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The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

This book about life in Packingtown led to the formation of the FDA to guard against adulterated foods. It tells about a family of immigrants who came to American and were destroyed in this urban jungle. [Is this still going on today?] Some complain that this book had a plea for Socialism. Sinclair's own background and experiences led his to seek a better solution to the problems facing the American people. In 1905 Sinclair joined the workers of the Beef Trust. He used his experiences to write this book. Are the problems exaggerated? You can compare the adventures to Voltaire's "Candide", a novel similar in its varied adventures. This book tells you about the lives of some people in those days. Will they ever return?

Chapter 1 begins with a wedding celebration. Those who attend are expected to make a donation to cover the costs. But the donations fall short. "To each according to their needs, from each according to their ability" may not be the best philosophy to run an enterprise. This tragedy sets the tone for the book. Jurgis goes from one misadventure to another. The good times are followed by worse times in the abyss. Loss of family, loss of jobs, loss of house, sickness, jail, poor food and clothing, etc. Its a worst-case scenario, exaggerated for shock value. What's worse, some of it could have been avoided if they had only known better. Jurgis' better job ends when the factory shuts down after meeting its quota.

Chapter 25 tells how businessmen pay for electoral victory. It explains the relationship between the politicians, the police, and the purveyors of vice and crime. Its how the twin-party system works. Chapter 26 tells of the great strike in Packingtown. Sinclair uses the language and views of that era. In Chapter 27 Jurgis finds his cousin working in a house; this explains how it works Chapter 28 shows Sinclair's skill as a preacher of good news and hope. Chapter 29 tells how competition among wage-earners leads to falling wages and poverty. Workers must unite to vote themselves into power to end private ownership of the "means of production". The Trusts also ruin small businesses and farmers. Chapter 30 explains how the Railroad Trust really governs the United States Senate and state governments. They are against the Beef Trust because of their private rail cars! Chapter 31 ends with a philosophical discussion. It seems very idealistic and neglects some features of human life. Does it sound "too good to be true"? "Dr. Schliemann" sounds like a false prophet whose claims will not stand testing.

For all of the promises of a "Co-operative Commonwealth" they still have to determine "the price of an article". Either wages or hours worked will need to be varied. They will need currency for personal needs. [Specie or paper?] Some of it reads like a parody. "Scientific breeding"? Dishwashing causing social ills? The "gospel of Nietzsche"? Two hundred tons of vegetables per acre? Timber lands for hunting? Rational plans for farming may ignore the variations of the weather; that can't be planned. The increase of votes for Socialists led to a prediction of victory. Today in Chicago, tomorrow the whole country!

Machiavelli warned that the few who profit from the existing laws are best organized to suppress new laws that would benefit the many. Ethnic groups established their neighborhoods to provide community support. Their churches could offer help for the present and hope for the future, avoiding anguish or despair. Bars were often clubs for workingmen. The 'nuclear family' in this novel shows its problems in an unstable society. You should read this novel as a history and a warning about corporate control of society.