Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: The Industrial Revolution

Upton Sinclair is recognized today as one of the most influential writers during the birth and largest period of industrialization in America: The Industrial Revolution. He is known most by his incredible, life-changing novel, The Jungle, which was written and published in 1906. The book was written to explain the amount of power and control that big businesses had during this era over the average workingman. “The novel’s story of the destruction of an immigrant Lithuanian family by the forces of corporate greed and poverty is a tale of horror almost beyond tragedy”(1110). Throughout the novel, Sinclair shows a series of unfortunate events that the Lithuanian family encounters once they move to America in hope of finding a life of living the “American Dream.” Although his writing influenced

The big business owners wanted to produce as mass of a production of meat as possible, so the quality of the meat was ultimately the last of their priorities. Sinclair wanted to make the people aware of the conditions of the factories and how series the issue really was. Both socially and politically, Upton Sinclair had culminating intentions to inform the American people of the evils of capitalism and sought to promote socialism in hope to alter the gap between the working class and the middle-upper class. (thesis)

Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to improve the huge gaps of the social classes in America during this time. His intention was to improve social aspects, because it was the only way that issues in the country would improve. . “Sinclair presents socialism as Jurgis’ only hope—and the only hope of workers like him”(1110). Jurgis, the main character in Sinclair’s book, was the father in the rather unfortunate Lithuanian family. The family made the decision to travel to America because to them as outsiders, the country was known as “the promise land,” a place to go in search for hope and well being in their future. It