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The Importance Of Socialism In Upton Sinclair

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Literature is where one could go to explore the highest and lowest points of human society, find the absolute truth, and support it using personal experiences and knowledge. Such is the case with writer Upton Sinclair, who grew up experiencing both sides of wealth and class divisions. By reflecting on his experiences with class division, Upton Sinclair’s exposé not only sheds light on the fight for workers rights but also incorporates a Socialist philosophy. Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 20, 1878. From birth Sinclair was exposed to dichotomies that would have an effect on his young mind and his thinking in later life (“Upton”). He was born with a volatile social background: his mother came from a wealthy family in Baltimore and his father, a salesman, struggled without much success to give her the lifestyle she had been accustomed to (“The Jungle” 154). One of the …show more content…

But, with Socialism being very similar to Communism, many Americans have tended to block out the ideas of Socialism as a threat (“The Jungle” 165). Regardless, Sinclair made sure to include Socialist beliefs in The Jungle. After Jurgis loses most of his family members, including his wife and son, he has nowhere to go and ends up at a convention, where he learns about Socialism: “Every Socialist did his share, and lived upon the vision of the “good time coming” -- when the working class should go to polls and seize the powers of government, and put and end to private property in the means of production” (Sinclair 337). Sinclair also managed to display the popularity and wide acceptance of Socialism: “The Socialists were organized in every civilized nation, it was an international political party… It numbered thirty million of adherents, and it acst eight million votes” (Sinclair 339). Although The Jungle centers on , it also includes a Socialist

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