The Harsh Working Conditions In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
Upton Sinclair was arguably one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. His novel, The Jungle, drove congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act. Upton Sinclair was one of the key figures in the Progressive Era. The Jungle sets change in motion by repeatedly shocking the public by exposing the harsh working conditions, the substandard housing, and the ways in which the Beef Trust cut corners in their products. Throughout the novel, Upton Sinclair shows the readers the harsh working conditions during the early nineteen hundreds. The owners of big meat companies would take advantage of their authority over the workers and treat them with no respect. The workers had strict rules such as taking off an hours pay if a worker is one minute late to work or having no days off. In the beginning of the novel, Ona requests a day off for her wedding with Jurgis but her boss refuses. Not only that, but they do not know what is in their medicine. “As these all …show more content…
One important part of the novel is when Connor, Ona’s boss, takes advantage of her and rapes her. Ona stops going to work because of Connor and later in the novel Ona has a premature baby and dies. “But it was all in vain – she faded from …show more content…
These workers would produce meat products that were contaminated, processed, and rotten. They would sell products that had chemicals on them but then label the package differently so the public would not know. Sinclair shows how the workers would still process the dead and diseased animals once the inspectors left the factories. “There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs. There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms” (161). Sinclair is telling us how they would can the meat that was on the floor and mix it in with other
Summary Of The Jungle Under The Auspice By Upton Sinclair
1424 Words | 6 PagesBy Bread Alone. Sinclair had only visited the stockyards on three different occasions during his research. He had not given much mind to what was being done to the meat products during these visits, as that was not his
How Did Upton Sinclair Protect The Meat Packing Industry
580 Words | 3 PagesUpton Sinclair was part of the group of people who wanted to improve the meat packing industry. He started to protest after going to investigate the Chicago Packingtown strike. Upton’s investigation led him to find that there were poor working conditions, and poor sanitation in the factory. There was diseased and rotten meat, and later, it was found that there was chemicals that are harmful to humans put into the meat. Also, it was found that many products were mislabeled.
Summary Of Stories That Changed America By Carl Jensen
1184 Words | 5 PagesSinclair worked undercover in a meatpacking plant to gather information firsthand, before he began writing the book. Its influence on the labor practices and regulations governing the food industry cannot be understated. It tackles subjects as varied as the poor living conditions of the immigrants, exploitation of cheap labor by industrialists, and the unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking plants and stockyards of Chicago. The descriptions of the disgusting processes that were conducted in the meatpacking plants made for shocking reading and turned the book into a bestseller. The President Teddy Roosevelt ordered an investigation into the lack of sanitation in meatpacking plants and caused the creation of legislation governing the food industry in the form of the Food and Drugs Act of 1906.
Summary Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair
643 Words | 3 PagesAfter the 1906 publication of Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, American citizens were shocked and confused. An instant hit, the book made Sinclair an immediate celebrity. His most famous quote was pertaining to the impact that The Jungle had on society, he states, “I aimed for the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” The groundbreaking novel unearthed the lives of poor immigrants living and working in the Chicago stockyards. The story's main character, Jurgis Rudkus, is a Lithuanian immigrant who came to America with the dream of living a happy and content life with his family.
Similarities Between Frederick Douglass And Upton Sinclair
430 Words | 2 PagesThe jobs were hard, and “the family had firsthand knowledge of the great majority of packingtown swindles” (Sinclair 1). After his book was published a national uproar occurred. Not because of the life of immigrants but because of the dirty meat-packing industry. The book helped laws get passed so the meat would be healthy and not full of “little extras” that would poison the
Social Reform In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
1097 Words | 5 PagesMuckrakers was a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt for journalists or novelists who sought out controversial allegations and misconduct among businesses and politics; bringing awareness and causing reform within America. A fluctuation of muckrakers began to sweep America during the early 1900s; as its citizens questioned the very framework of the contentious country they reside in. Later, becoming a powerful force, where a single column of text had the ability to influence millions of Americans. Pioneering the path for thousands of journalists to follow in their footsteps, subsequently, finding answers to questions often overlooked by the general population. America’s government has always eluded from sharing inside information to both foreign
Progressive Era DBQ
1341 Words | 6 PagesIn Upton Sinclair’s expose on the meat industry, The Jungle, he writes about the unsanitary and dangerous conditions in the workplace. The author first begins with an eye-opening description of how the meat is made and packed; he then describes the sickening odor that would fill the room. To conclude he details how the workers would need to find a way to sell anything by writing of their schemes of using spoiled meat to sell. Sinclair’s purpose is to expose the conditions of the meatpacking industry and how it was harmful not only to the workers, but also the consumers. He seems to have a large, general audience in mind because the majority
Upton Sinclair The Effects Of The Jungle
640 Words | 3 PagesUpton Sinclair's book The Jungle depicted many disturbing social injustices immigrants had to endure at the time during the 19th century. Jurgis and his family moved to America in search of a better life, but upon arrival the harsh reality set in that America was not what everyone said it to be. They suffered many hardships. The working conditions, when they could find employment, were terrible. They battled discrimination, they were grossly taken advantage of, and survival from day to day in Packingtown slowly worked to deteriorate their faith.
Upton Sinclair The Impact Of The Jungle
1263 Words | 6 PagesThe public was made aware of the horrible situations in which food was not regulated and how the workers were working in such
1900's Meat Packing Industry
665 Words | 3 PagesAlthough 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
Working Conditions In The Jungle
634 Words | 3 PagesDuring the 1900’s working conditions were undeniably horrible. In Packingtown everyday got more difficult as the days went on. In the meat packing business things were supposed to be done quick. Inside the factories packing, chopping, inspecting and people actions didn’t mix. Not only did the people in the factories suffered, the people outside of the factory also suffered.
The Economic Tension In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
1899 Words | 8 PagesUpton Sinclair portrays the economic tension in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through his novel “The Jungle”. He used the story of a Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, to show the harsh situation that immigrants had to face in the United States, the unsanitary and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking plants, as well as the tension between the capitalism and socialism in the United States during the early 1900s. In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, there were massive immigrants move into the United States, and most of them were from Europe. The protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, like many other immigrants, have the “America Dream” which they believe America is heaven to them, where they can
Child Labor Exposed In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
1199 Words | 5 PagesAfter reading Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, child labor, urbanization, industrialization and immigration are problem quite sore during 1880-1910 period. Firstly, the future of the world depends on the child. However, the lives of children today are causing people to worry about. According to the Labor Law, provisions on workers be aged 16 years or older, able to work, working under labor contracts, paid and subject to the management and administration of the employer.
Meatpacking Workers In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
1060 Words | 5 PagesRevealing the harsh treatment of meatpacking workers and showing the reality of the disgusting conditions found in butchery shops to the public, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle became an enduring classic by American readers throughout the early twentieth century the prompted the later creation of the Federal Drug Administration. In the early 1900s, America was explosively transitioning from an agricultural society to a thriving manufacturing-based nation. As production demand in factories grew throughout the country, the work force needed to run those factories also expanded. A new type of demanding and dangerous work became prevalent throughout the nation, as immigrants coming into the “Land of Opportunity” found themselves desperate
The Jungle Critical Analysis
1202 Words | 5 PagesDuring the time period of the 1900’s, the meat packaging industry in Chicago, as Sinclair mentions in his novel, The Jungle, was a very unsanitary and extremely dangerous workplace that lacked much more than just a few safety precautions. Simple things, such as enforcing hand washing or workers’ rights were unheard of in the working environment. It is clear that Upton Sinclair was trying to expose the worker’s horrendous labor conditions in order to improve their situation, along with the introduction of socialism. Upton Sinclair, in his novel, talks about how a Lithuanian immigrant by the name of Jurgis Rudkus, and his family, travel to Chicago trying to make ends meet. However, they soon realize Chicago was not the place for that.
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