Upton Sinclairs The Jungle - Chicago Will Be Ours Essay -- Upton Sin

The Jungle - Chicago Will Be Ours Their folk Their home They had lost it Grief, despair, rage, overwhelmed him - what was any imagination of the thing to this heart-breaking, crush reality of it ... sole(prenominal) think what he had suffered for that house - what miseries they had all suffered for that house - the price they had paid for it The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, gives a heart breaking portrayal of the hardships face up by the countless poverty stricken brayers in the slaughter houses of Chicago. As in the quote above, a struggling family underwent months of back breaking labor only to loose their house at the drop of a hat. It was a desperate and unmerciful time when an accidentally fractured ankle cost a homo his job and his family food and shelter. In the early 1900s, strikes, riots, labor unions, and advanced political parties arose across the country. The government, with its laissez-faire attitude, allowed business to consolidate into trusts, and with lack of competition, into potent monopolies. These multi-million dollar monopolies were able to exploit every opportunity to illuminate greater fortunes regardless of human consequences. Sinclair illustrates the harsh conditions in Packingtown through a Lithuanian immigrant family and their struggles to survive. Ona, a young and frail woman, and Jurgis, a hard cash in ones chipsing and strong man and the husband of Ona, come to America with some of their family to find work and to make a innovative and better life for themselves. With everyone finding employment good away, the family begins their lives in America with optimism, enthusiasm, and ignorance. Taking a huge risk, they purchase a small rickety house. Slowly, they awaken to the harsh realities of their surroundings. Theres the mortg... ...workingman is common ownership and republican management of production. Schliemann, a socialist, explains that anyone would be able to support himself by an hours work a day. Sinclair goes even further by referring to collectivism as the new religion of humanity to oppose the jungle in which the workingman slaves. Finally, Sinclair tries to convert his readers to fabianism and reject capitalism by using numbers. At the end of the novel, he shows the increasing popularity of socialism as the number of votes increase. In Chicago, the number of votes for socialism started at next to nothing and, by the end of the book, there were almost fifty thousand votes. Leaving the reader with a sense of optimism that socialism may one day triumph, Sinclair ends the novel with hope for the workingman as he zealously writes, Chicago will be ours Chicago will be ours