“The Jungle”
By Upton Sinclair
The fact that “The Jungle” is a work of fiction does not make it less effective as a work of propaganda because the content of the book is based on historical fact; how the city grew exponentially, how the rail yards played such a role in that growth, how the stockyards and packing plants were cesspools and corrupt, how the number of poor, unskilled, undereducated immigrants flowed into the city like the wind. However, you do have to pick through the words to find the underlying message. To be able to understand that the putridness is being portrayed in such a way as to make it vile and unacceptable to anyone, and that the only answer is to turn from the greed and angst of capitalism to the equalness and open arms of socialism.
While reading the book, it is easy to believe that such downfalls did occur to individuals and their families. The winters in Chicago were and are brutal to endure. Made even more difficult when you cannot afford firewood or coal to heat your home; can’t afford warm clothing or a coat; are not able to purchase new shoes when yours have holes in them and a roof over your head is considered a luxury. This is something that they would endure, year after year, just as they would the coming of the seasons. It is also conceivable that people were frequently injured on the job. How could injury not occur when the work pace was kept frenetic, without breaks, hours and hours upon end. Yet there was no recourse to cure these situations. If you complained, you would be fired. If you couldn’t keep up, you were fired. If you were ill and couldn’t come to work, you were fired. It is also conceivable that thousands upon thousands died from these adverse work and living conditions, especially the elderly. Coming to a new country, dealing with the smoke and grime of the city, working in unventilated, unheated or uncooled conditions, ankle deep in mire, breathing in dust from bone and waste; survival seems a miracle. It is also understandable that women would die in childbirth. Unfortunately most of these immigrants could not afford medical care. It would not be difficult to imagine a woman having difficulty, such as a breach birth, and her and the infant dying from such a complication. In addition, how could children be expected to survive. Many were forced to work, or left to their own devices, while the adults were at work. Falling off a sidewalk, drowning in the street, suffering from mumps, measles, whooping cough, etc. and having no remedy or relief is believable and was common. Greed and graft ran amok in the city. Being an immigrant you generally had no friends, did not know who to trust. But you had come to the land of opportunity and surely everyone here wanted to give a helping hand. When you are taken in by shysters selling you an old house, lying about rent fees, taxes and insurance, upsetting the wrong man at work and being blacklisted for it, it seems impossible. Even though these immigrants came with an insatiable desire to succeed, to work hard and be profitable, they were slowing and painfully broken down by the very system they expected to save them. While it is believable that all of these situations and difficulties did exist, it is hard to fathom them all happening to one person or family.
However, it was necessary to the end result for Sinclair to portray the endless and pitiful plight of this young and unsuccessful family in order to show that turning to Socialism would uplift the masses, give them a reason to continue dragging themselves to work. It would give them an opportunity to buy into and be proud of what they did and produced. Socialism is being portrayed as the righter of all evils, of the savior for the common man. This is the purpose and the result of the book. You can see poor, broken down Jurgis sitting in that meeting. He has no comprehension of what is being said or why. All he knows is that he wants to be warm for a little while. As he sits there and becomes more cognizant of his surroundings and the speech that the man is giving, he begins to see a new way. His hope is reknewed and he again believes that there is a way to right the wrongs around him; for this to become the country of opportunity that he and his family envisioned. He is desperate for an answer, and it is handed to him by this eloquent speaker. He is taken in by a believer, given a job by another.
The book leaves us to contemplate the results on our own. I suppose Sinclair was hoping that the conclusion would write itself. That upon reading his book the masses would come to understand the basis for socialism and flock to it like the savior it was. However the culmination of events such as the Haymarket Riot, the labor strikes, etc. brought this socialistic uprising to a standstill. Sinclair did not see the final coup that he hoped for.
