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Rosario Claudio III
Dr. Wilson
English 3303
21 March 2016
The Jungle
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a bone chilling, descriptive look into the views of
socialism. The characters and the means in which they exist play a very crucial part to
captivate the audience and get Sinclair’s views on the abysmal state of the immigrant
working class and how it is similar to slavery as it correlates to wages.
The backdrop for The Jungle is set in Packingtown, an Industrial part of Chicago known
for its stockyards and meat packing facilities. This is where Jurgis and Ona Rudkus, as
well as their immigrant friends and family, live in poverty with hopes to achieve the
American dream. They quickly see that they are nothing but cheap labor to the companies
for whom they work. Poor work conditions and very low wages are commonplace for
immigrants in Packingtown. They risk their lives at work to try and provide for their
families, if they are able to find work at all. These conditions are the result of a company
that maximizes production with no regard to the well being and safety of its employees.
The workers were being exploited and treated as if they were slaves and the factory owners
their masters. The dreams they once had can be envisioned here, “So America was a place
of which lovers and young people dreamed. If one could only manage to get the price of
passage, he could count his troubles at an end “(The Jungle, 27). These dreams are
