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Moral Struggle In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

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What do we define as morals ? Is it holding the door for a stranger, not committing crimes, or savage acts. Morals are not judged on what we need to do to survive but what is acceptable in society. Morals may differ from class, social group , and , creed ; however what is considered right and wrong is decided by the interpreter. In the novel The Jungle , Upton Sinclair introduces the theme of poverty and its many moral struggles throughout the novel.

In The Jungle the reader sees how financial struggles cause one to take all needs necessary to survive . Marija , and Jurgis are the main characters who face the moral struggles that these actions bring. Marija becomes a prostitute to support the family after losing income from other members …show more content…

An incident prevalent to that is the wedding scene at the beginning of the novel.Ona and Jurgis are getting married and as a traditional costum they have a dance where the people pay to be with the bride. Most of the guest do not pay or just leave before the dance. They do this because money is of more value than doing what is right. Sinclair goes on to say , that these people who come to America and forgot the way of the old country. Sinclair further discusses the causes of this new corruption with the quote , "Here is a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers; under such circumstances, immorality is exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it is under the system of chattel slavery” (126). This mentions things such as , “ immorality is inevitable “ and that these people are “ always hanging on the verge of starvation “. With money being the main thing people have to have to survive in this society new immigrants will lose their customs to save themselves from starvation. This system of the need of a unprovided profit creates immoral situations where bystanders are

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