The Jungle centers around a family who immigrated to
Chicago’s Packingtown from Lithuania to “get rich”. The family comes in
hesitant to trust Americans, but optimistic about what the future will bring.
However, as time passes the family begins to realize the harsh realities of
working in this industrial nightmare. The whole family finds jobs in the meat
packing district and each endures their own kind of horrors. Although the novel
includes a variety of characters, the plot mostly focuses on Jurgis who is the “man
of the house”. The family continues to struggle and everyone is
forced to make sacrifices. They reach a breaking point when Jurgis’s wife, Ona dies while giving birth to a still born
baby. Jurgis breaks down but trudges on with the thought of his one year old so
Antanas on his mind. Tragedy strikes once again when Jurgis comes home to find
that Antanas has drownd in the streets. This absolutely destroys Jurgis so he
leaves the family and Chicago to go live by himself in the country side.
Jurgis continues to live an unstable, homeless life where he tries many
different menial jobs, gets involved in crooked politics and begins to steal.
Eventually Jurgis falls into a group of men who are trying to spread the idea
of socialism and he joins their cause.
The obvious theme throughout this novel is that capitalism
can be extremely cruel. Sinclair brings the reader on a journey of despair,
tragedy and hopelessness by highlighting the evils of living in “dog eat dog
world”. The true evil that is revealed that in capitalism few truly benefit
while the working class faces a daily struggle of trying to stay alive.
The authors tone in this novel is sympathetic. It is evident
that Sinclair feels for his characters and thinks it is extremely unjust the
way they are living. Sinclair wrote this to make others aware of how horrible
workers are treated so his tone is defiantly in favor of the working class.
Characterization
Sinclair uses direct characterization in the beginning of
the novel when he describes Jurgis as being big, confident and strong. These
traits aren’t revealed through actions they are written plainly by the author.
An example of indirect characterization is when Jurgis goes after Ona’s boss
for sending her to the whore house. This shows how quick of a temper Jurgis has
and how deeply he cares about his poor wife.
The diction and syntax remain relatively the same throughout
the novel. Sinclair varies in sentence length both the story is written simply
and easy to follow. However, at the end the book becomes more technical when going
in depth about politics and socialism. During these politically driven chapters
there are many long speeches that Sinclair includes from various socialist
supporting men.
Jurgis is practically the definition of a dynamic character.
He arrives in Chicago optimistic and hopeful then when trouble falls on him he
becomes hardened and dark. Later on he changes again and experiments with being
a thief and having crooked morals. The novel ends with him finding hope again
and having a cause, something to live for and believe in. It seems as though he
goes through major personality changes frequently and I believe this to be a direct
result of the corrupt, atrocious atmosphere he is surrounded by.
This book actually changed my outlook on a lot of things and
affected me in a number of ways. I was disgusted by not only the food making
processes but also the incredibly terrible treatment of the workers in
Packingtown. The worst part of reading this novel is making the realization
that the things Sinclair wrote about were based off of true events. Sure they
may not have been a Jurgis or an Ona but their were/ still are thousands of
millions of people who lived the terrible lives and received the despicable treatment
that the characters in this book did. This book has furthered my interest in
helping the poor and aiding those who do not have a voice.
