Millions of Americans view “hard and laborious” work as mowing the lawn or going to an office job eight hours a day. Young teenagers regard these duties as “chores”, miserable and tedious tasks; however, most of these people are oblivious to the mistreatment and overworking the meat industry workers experience daily. Since the 20th century, these employees have been exploited and taken advantage of by the large corporations in the food industry. In the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, revelations are made about the evil ways of the meat factories in the early 1900s. Although the working conditions have improved in several ways, today’s industry is not much better, and food investigators Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan expose the realities …show more content…
For example, one of the key points that is constantly brought up in Sinclair’s novel is how these companies view their workers, and how that leads them to atrociously use them. The protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, states how he was, “… the victim of ravenous vultures that had torn into his vitals and devoured him; of fiends that had racked and tortured him, … and they could do nothing...the law was against them, the whole machinery of society was at their oppressors' command!”(p.184-185) Originally, Jurgis had moved to America with his family with hopes and dreams for a happy life. However, working in the factories has torn him apart at the seams and took everything he had away from him, including his reasons to live. Once they had drained his strength, they tossed him aside like a rag doll, and left him to fend for himself without a job. Wistfully, the same exact thing is happening today. In Food, Inc., one of the workers describes the maltreatment very similarly to Jurgis Rudkus. “They have the same mentality towards workers as they do towards the hogs… the hog, they don't really have to worry about their comfort because they're temporary. They're gonna be killed. And they have the same viewpoint to the worker. You're not worried about the longevity of the worker because, to them, everything has an end.” By comparing these two statements from two different time periods, it is confirmed …show more content…
It is difficult to say if the conditions were better then or now, simply because both good and bad changes have occurred in the past century, which causes the pros and cons to balance out. Sadly, the working and living circumstances are nearly too horrendous to exist. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Despite the amount of changes in the industry, working in the meat packing factories proved to be a repulsive job, both in the 1900s and today. Thankfully, these works have inspired millions of citizens to stand up and promote change in this gruesome and cruel
The working conditions in the slaughterhouse was an issue too. The working conditions were just horrible. Dead rats and insects all around the working area. The smell of dead animals was a hazard for workers that went in every day.
When Upton Sinclair wrote the Jungle, a book about the terrible environment of the meat-packing factories in Chicago, he hoped to motivate reform in immigrant working conditions and promote socialism. Instead, what shocked readers the most was the sordid surroundings in which their future meals were prepared. Sinclair 's audience saw these conditions as a threat to themselves, and that energized reform in the meat-packing industry. What scared audiences the most was how real this threat was to their lives. As can be witnessed in the results of Sinclair 's crusade, the most effective propaganda is that which rouses the visceral survival instinct.
Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, was published in 1906 to shed light on the harsh realities faced by the working class in America during the 20th century. The novel depicts themes of the grueling immigrant experience and the evils of capitalism. Sinclair uses these themes to inform readers of the struggle and harshness of life during this time and to represent the need for labor rights. The story begins by introducing the main character, Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant.
“The same endless vista of ugly and dirty little wooden buildings. Here and there would be a bridge crossing a filthy creek.” This was Upton Sinclair’s description of the city of Chicago in the early 20th century in his book The Jungle, and it was not flattering. The things that went on inside the city was even uglier, and it was done by one corporate, capitalism. Capitalism became a major problem in America as it bred horrible working and living conditions for the working class, and there was many reasons for why this happened (i.e. greed).
There were no food-related inspections or prerequisites that protected consumers from buying unhealthy or tainted meat. This lack of protection was alarming, as more than two-hundred diseases can be spread through food. There were also few laws that restricted the freedoms of business owners, which made it extremely easy for these owners to abuse their workers. The working conditions in most meat-plants were blatantly gruesome. There were usually no restrooms for the workers, so a corner or the floor were utilized as substitutes.
For example, the unsanitariness of the meat industry was exposed, leading to many fight for acts to reform the factories. One muckraker, Upton Sinclair, wrote an entire novel including graphic details of the process and all the corruption that took place (F). Besides the industries, citizens were also lashing out towards the government because of the patronage system, which gave unqualified members of each political party jobs as a favor. Patronage became a more important issue than policy, and citizen’s, as well as the country’s concerns were pushed to the side.
Chapter 8 from the reading describes the working condition of the slaughterhouse. The meatpacking was known for the most dangerous job in America. People worked in the poor working condition where knives and machines can cut through their shiny steel armor. There are no windows, workers standing in the river of blood, drenched in blood, and women facing sexual harassment. The cleaning crew cleans the plant with a high-pressure hose that shoots a mixture of water and chlorine heated to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
Immigrant workers were limited of their freedom and constantly exploited due to the fact that they were working in hazardous working conditions, were living in deplorable conditions, and were being harassed under the intimidating power of corrupt politicians. Such miseries the immigrants had to face included the hazardous working conditions where they had to stay for long hours. There was no doubt that workers had either die or were injured as they worked in such environment. In Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, the dangers of working conditions are emphasized through Jurgis’ incident at the meatpacking plant.
In early 1900, specifically, 1906, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written. This novel told the story of a Lithuanian immigrant who worked in a filthy Chicago meatpacking plant. It exposed the meatpacking industry by stating their vile practices not only towards their meat but their workers as well. This was a result of the combination of many immigrants in the United States to pursue a better life, and the fact that many big industries were looking for ways to maximize their profit.
Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food. Body 1: The meat packing industry’s working conditions were much worse in the 1900’s than they are today. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, working conditions were horrible for immigrants who were employed in these factories. People in these factories were worked very hard and used up till they could not work anymore. In the novel Jurgis broke his ankle because of the unsafe
Americans need to take recognition for what these workers go through. They work endlessly in pain they can’t make go away. They suffer daily and no one cares if their hurting or not. Everyone’s bodies are getting weaker and weaker as the days goes on. An important quote from The Jungle demonstrates why it’s important for people to know what goes on while working in these factories.
The Bosses squeezed and drained the life of those men. In the book The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair he described the life of a struggling family try to work and stay alive in the filth. The working conditions in the factories were unsafe, unsanitary and people made little. The purpose of this book was for people to become socialist other than capitalist.
However, readers at the time were not very concerned about the petty immigrants living on the lower rung of society. Rather, they cared about what affected them most: the condition of the meat they were eating-- and had been eating-- for years, that were produced by some of the very factories mentioned in Sinclair’s novel. For the majority of The Jungle’s readers, the fact that poor immigrants were being exploited was not bothersome. Instead, the fact that the food that readers had been eating for years contained the power to kill them seemed shocking, pushing the nation into a worried frenzy. Readers were disgusted by the facts they were reading, catalyzing the creation of administrations like the FDA.
There were repetitive and dangerous assembly lines. People could easily break their backs in any of the jobs. They didn’t even get breaks. People couldn’t advance their careers, and they worked in foul and filthy spaces. They worked ten hours a day, with six days a week.
Camila Casanova U.S. History 1302: S67 Mr. Isaac G. Pietrzak February 9, 2018 Critical Review: The Jungle Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.