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Analysis Of The Plight Of Immigrants In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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Upton Sinclair developed his thoughts on the plight of immigrants in Chicago extremely well throughout his novel, The Jungle. Through the portrayal of the Lithuanian family's struggles and hardships, Sinclairs tells the truths of the corruption and immigrant experience in Chicago in the early 1900s. The gruesome details of the meat packaging industry show how truly unjust and disturbing the working conditions were during these times. Upton goes on to depict the unfair living conditions of the Lithuanian immigrants as well as the immigrants before and after their time in Packington. After Sinclair released the serial form of his novel in a Socialist newspaper in 1905, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was soon to follow. This act prevented the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious …show more content…

If the case is where the raw materials are from that native area and would benefit the natives from the creation of jobs, then yes this may be ethical. However, corruption is still a factor that must be taken into consideration. The employees working to create these products must be treated fairly with the appropriate wages they deserve. Sweatshops are a good example of how outsourcing can go wrong. The workers are placed into cruel work conditions and expected to work for next to nothing. This is just as unethical as the meat production industry was is in the early 1900s. The only solution I see fit to correct this bad business is to enforce labor laws. If these foreign countries were to enforce labor laws, there may be improvement in the workplace. The workers could finally earn the wages they deserve and the environment best that may be provided. A worker who devotes their life to that one job and still cannot provide for themselves for daily needs is a tragedy. This tragedy is in much need of reform and

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