Trey Roelofs HS 250 Mr. Weaver 20 October 2016 The Jungle Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was written during the Progressive Era, a time of economic and social problems due to the rapid industrialization that occurred in America during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Progressivism was a movement that developed to bring about an end government corruption and return power to the citizens. It was not a single uniform movement. Progressives did not share the same views on every issue. It consisted of Republican, Democrats, and members of third parties. Although not a single uniform movement, the main goal was to improve the lives of American citizens and to strive to make government more accountable. Progressivism gained a significant momentum when …show more content…
Sinclair went to Chicago to research the strike and the conditions suffered by the workers in the meat-packing industry. He interviewed the workers and their families as well as their relatives, doctors, and others. He personally observed the appalling conditions inside the meat-packing plants. His research during this process ended up be the basis for the book. The Jungle centers around the lives of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite, who have recently immigrated to Chicago from Lithuania. The couple and some of their relatives have come to Chicago in search of the “American Dream” They find work in Chicago’s meatpacking industry. Jurgis and Ona lived in the Chicago housing area known as Packingtown. They were tenement apartments and rented rooms built next to the stockyards and city dumps. Along with the housing area, there were acres of stockyards, slaughterhouses, and processing plants. Well known for their awful living and working conditions, the houses in Packingtown were built terribly and falling apart and known to have sink holes. Sinclair really focuses on the setting of The Jungle. It seems that his goal was to show the real horrors of the meat packing industry. That’s what makes the setting an essential part of the