His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the united states. The jungle, novel by upton sinclair, published serially in 1905 and as a singlevolume book in 1906. In chapter 2 of the jungle, we learn what motivates onas family to move to the u. His novel, the jungle 1906, a shocking expose of the unsanitary and dangerous conditions in the plants, was an immediate bestseller and incited president roosevelt to enact a series of food safety laws.
The jungle is the story of jurgis rudkus and his family, lithuanian immigrants who come to america to work in the meatpacking plants of chicago. Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclairthe explosive growth of american industry in the late nineteenth century caused a similar expansion in the work force. The jungle is a 1906 novel by the american journalist and novelist upton sinclair. However, most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the american m.
In 1906, upton sinclairs novel the jungle uncovered harrowing conditions inside americas meat packing plants and initiated a period of transformation in the nations meat industry. The book is centred around jurgis, a jejune lithuanian immigrant and his travails through this dreadful industry. The jungle questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on the jungle. The jungle, upton sinclair the jungle is a 1906 novel written by the american journalist and novelist upton sinclair 18781968. The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. The first time i read this book by choice, it was recommended by my mother, when i was in college, i stopped eating meat for several months something that made family dinners a bit interesting, but that was a small price to pay for how i felt about meat after reading sinclairs portrayal of the meatpacking industry. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the united states in chicago and similar industrialized cities. Of the butchers and floorsmen, the beefboners and trimmers, and all those who used knives, you could scarcely find a person. The jungle is a novel by upton sinclair, published serially in 1905 and as a book in 1906. Book by upton sinclair which exposed the abuses of the meat packing industry. A summary of chapters 35 in upton sinclairs the jungle. Upton sinclair, the jungle 1906 meatpacking workers carrying their product to unrefrigerated and most likely rat infested storage areas. Like harriet beecher stowes uncle toms cabin, the jungle proved the power of fiction to move a nation.
Jan 16, 2012 men standing on wooden beams between the cattle yards in chicago, c. A muckraking novel about chicagos meatpacking industry. The jungle is as an expose of the horrific working conditions and unsanitary conditions in chicagos meatpacking industry. The book was fiction but based on the things sinclair had seen. Pure food and drug act was passed in 1906, and conditions in american slaughterhouses were improved. The jungle, published in 1906, exposed the harsh conditions of the meatpacking industry in chicago and other similar industrial cities. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the jungle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Photographs from chicagos meatpacking industry, circa 1900. For years, many americans bought meat from butcher shops and grocery stores, never thinking about the type of conditions under which livestock had been butchered and the meat had been processed. Paperback january 1, 2003 by upton beall18781968 sinclair author 4. President theodore roosevelt signed two historic bills aimed at regulating the food and drug industries into.
The nightmare of the chicago meatpacking industry was described as follows. The jungle follows jurgis rudkus, a lithuanian immigrant, through his disillusionment with the american dream after working as an exploited laborer in chicagos meatpacking district. Here was a population, lowclass and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the oldtime slave drivers. Gary younge on upton sinclairs 1906 novel the jungle. The two are dancing at their wedding feast in chicagos meatpacking district, packingtown. Upton sinclairs friend jack london who was a fellow writer and philosophical intimate, jack london, wrote this announcement of the jungle, the book we have been waiting for these many years. In 1900 the chicago packinghouses employed 25,000 of the countrys 68,000 packinghouse employees. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to. S it was jonas who suggested that they all go to america, where a friend of his had gotten rich. Upton sinclairs descriptions shocked the public and led to new safety regulations and support for the progressive movement. In 1904, in the midst of a bitter stockyard strike, socialist writer upton sinclairs twomonth visit to chicagos packingtown area provided him with a wealth of material that he turned into his bestselling novel, the jungle. The people of chicago saw the government inspectors in packingtown, and they all took that to mean that they were protected from diseased meat. Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry. The most famous, influential, and enduring of all muckraking novels, the jungle was an expose of conditions in the chicago stockyards.
Aug 04, 2006 the jungle tells the story of a young lithuanian couple, jurgis rudkus and ona lukoszaite, who move to chicago s packingtown at the turn of the century, where jurgis finds work in the stockyards. Dec 31, 2011 excerpt and questions about upton sinclairs muckraking novel the jungle. Upton sinclairs the jungle constitutional rights foundation. A 1906 report by the bureau of animal industry refuted sinclairs severest allegations, characterizing them as intentionally misleading and false, willful and deliberate misrepresentations of fact, and utter absurdity. The following are excerpts from the jungle by the muckraker upton sinclair. His work led to sweeping reforms in the meatpacking industry, along with federal regulations regarding sanitary practices in the industry. Commonlit excerpt from the jungle free reading passages. The jungle tells the story of a young lithuanian couple, jurgis rudkus and ona lukoszaite, who move to chicagos packingtown at the turn of the century, where jurgis finds work in. It was a fictionalized account of what it was like in the meat packing industry, and how horrible working conditions were in meat packing plants. The jungle, a 1906 novel by upton sinclair, is full of graphic descriptions of the poor conditions workers and cattle endured in the chicago meatpacking industry. Sinclair hoped the novel would awaken americans to the evils of capitalism.
The jungle exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry. Upton sinclair 18781968 was a famous twentieth century poet who often experimented with different genres. I am a proud super nerd and got a little carried away playing with audacity. In upton sinclairs novel, the jungle, sinclair argues the horrors of the meat packing industry and how corrupt capitalism. The cattle yards that seems to go on forever, and a view of the packing plants in the distance. Study 16 terms upton sinclair and the jungle flashcards. Excerpt from chapter 9 of the jungle, upton sinclair 1906 bubbly creek is an arm of the chicago river, and forms the southern boundary of the yards. The jungle by upton sinclair meet your next favorite book. People still read the jungle for its realistic picture of conditions in the meat packing industry at the turn of the 20th century. The book is best known for revealing the unsanitary process by which animals became meat products. Sinclairs book was so moving and troubling that it inspired the establishment of the food and drug administration, a federal agency that is to this day responsible for regulating. Their primary target was the union stock yards section of chicago, a massive complex of feedlots, slaughterhouses, meat processing plants, and employee housing. In chicago 1900 the chicago meatpacking industry, along with other industries, began to expand and grow. The themetracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of the horrors of the meatpacking industry appears in each chapter of the jungle.
By the early 1900s, politically progressive leaders had begun to publish attacks on meatpacking establishments for their unsafe working conditions and unjust employment practices. In 1904, upton sinclair, a novelist traveled to chicago to gather information about the terrible things and abused that happened in the meat packing industry. His novel, the jungle 1906, a shocking expose of the unsanitary and dangerous conditions in the plants, was an. A family working in the meat packing industry, exposing what really happened in the industry. The following is an excerpt from the jungle by the muckraker upton sinclair. As you read the following sections think about how progressive leaders would want to use the government to regulate the production of food and working conditions in the late 1800s. President theodore roosevelt signed two historic bills aimed at. It is probably indisputable that upton sinclairs the jungle, the story of a lithuanian immigrant family confronting the brutality of chicagos meat racket, was the most influential novel of. Excerpts from the jungle by upton sinclair 10 pointssection 1let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the world. Making profits initially relied upon two major things cheap labor, and the absence of any type of regulation. Vivid and eyeopening novel concerning the exploitation and grinding poverty of workers in the chicago meatpacking factories of the 1920s. Sinclair used royalties from the book to start a utopian colony.
The jungle study guide contains a biography of upton sinclair, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. And then there was the condemned meat industry, with its endless horrors. Essay on upton sinclair and the chicago meatpacking. Excerpts from the jungle by upton sinclair 10 points section 1let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the world. See all 1036 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Public pressure during the aftermath of the book s publication led to the passage of the meat inspection act, which helps ensure that meat is packaged under sanitary conditions. May 12, 2016 the jungle exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry. However, his fictional account of the meat packing industry was used by the meat packing industry itself to have the regulation scheme they had been lobbying for finally rammed through. It will open countless ears that have been deaf to socialism. An example of the kind of housing in which the rudkus family probably found themselves in packingtown chicago, c. The jungle is a 1906 novel by the american journalist and novelist upton sinclair 18781968.
Millions of people who read the book were shocked by the unsanitary practices sinclair described. While there are already hints that things are not well with this couple ona has to go to work the next day or else it will ruin us. He described the filthy conditions of the meat packing industry in chicago during the progressive era. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the jungle and what it means. Jurgis and his family arrive in chicago at the turn of the 20th century eager to start their lives in the land of opportunity. There was money to be made both at home, as well as overseas. Note part of an ad for armour, one of the big packers, on a building to the right. Social criticism in the jungle, by upton sinclair 1525. Working conditions in the new urban industrial zones were wretched, and a progressive reform movement soon grew out of the need to address the health and welfare of the american worker. Their primary target was the union stock yards section of chicago, a massive complex of feedlots, slaughterhouses, meatprocessing plants, and employee housing. Constitutional rights foundation bill of rights in action fall 2008 volume 24, no. As you read the following sections think about how progressive leaders would want to use the government to regulate the production of food and working.
An expose of the american meatpacking industry and the horrors endured by immigrant workers generated public outrage resulting in passage of federal legislation that improved food quality and working conditions. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. As you read the following sections think about how progressive leaders would want to use the government to regulate the production of food. What was the reason congress passed the purefooddrug bill. Thus, chicagos big three packersphilip armour, gustavus swift, and nelson morriswere in a position to influence livestock prices at one end of this complex industrial chain and the price of meat products at the other end. Then in 1906, author upton sinclair wrote the jungle, an expose of the chicago meatpacking industry. Upton sinclairs novel about immigrant workers in chicagos meatpacking plants shocked readers when it was first published in 1906. Upton sinclairs book, the jungle, created a public response. In 1906, upton sinclairs novel the jungle, about conditions in industrial meat packing plants, was published. By the early 1900s, politically progressive leaders had begun to publish attacks on meat packing establishments for their unsafe working conditions and unjust employment practices. The meat packing industry started in the early 1900s. Oct 31, 2014 sinclairs jungle was unregulated enterprise. Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclair. This excerpt from upton sinclairs muckraking novel of the chicago meatpacking industry describes, in graphic detail, how cattle are slaughtered and injuries sustained by workers.
This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of byproducts including hides, feathers, dried blood, and. The people of chicago saw the government inspectors in packingtown, and they all took that to mean that they were protected. The culmination of his work was the passage in 1906 of the meat inspection act, enshrined in history, or at least in history books, as a sacred cow excuse the pun of the interventionist state. Public pressure during the aftermath of the book s publication led to the passage of the meat inspection act, which helps ensure that meat is. Gary younge on upton sinclairs 1906 novel the jungle books. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. Upton sinclair, whose muckraking changed the meat industry. The following are excerpts from the jungle by the muckraker. Published in 1906, the jungle brought awareness to the harsh working conditions in the american meat packing industry and the plight of immigrants. Sadly enough, much of what happened in this novel was absolutely true, and was taken.
Excerpt and questions about upton sinclairs muckraking novel the jungle. About the jungle in this powerful book we enter the world of jurgis rudkus, a young lithuanian immigrant who arrives in america fired with dreams of wealth, freedom, and opportunity. The following excerpt is from the wpa guide to illinois. Immigration quotes in the jungle by upton sinclair. As a result, the government would step in and pass legislation that protected consumers from consuming unsafe food. And we discover, with him, the astonishing truth about packingtown, the busy, flourishing, filthy chicago stockyards, where new world visions perish in a jungle. Jun 30, 2016 upton sinclair, whose muckraking changed the meat industry.
1328 240 1085 103 804 403 1155 1368 64 982 949 272 1194 22 756 386 1488 305 1146 1227 16 465 1470 1097 477 1326 998 1464 386 1493 482 1208