Semester TWO, HONORS Novel Blog #1

America has always been immigrants’ hope of “succeeding and making it to the top”. Their capitalism system makes it sound like the land of opportunities; wealth and prosperity with the virtuous idea that the hard working is rewarded. Philosopher James Adams states "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” However, in the novel, “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair tells a story about the troubles immigrant families went trough in a meatpacking town. Upton Sinclair connects the bad and corrupted effects capitalism with different symbols. The Cans of rotten meat symbolize the hidden face of capitalism; the Jungle symbolizes the capitalist idea of survival is for the strong workers and Packingtown and the stockyards symbolize the moral and physical abuse of the workers.

Few have benefited from the free market but more have been taken advantage of it. Free market is a market without any intervention or regulations from the government making the business have the freedom to add and charge whatever they want to their products. The meat packing plants started selling rotten meat in cans. They add different chemical so the meat wouldn’t smell and look good. People were attracted to the cans because it of its shinny pretty surface. According to Sinclair capitalism is present in the same way; attractive surface but later you find the rotten and corrupted insides. Jurgis Rudkus immigrated from Lithuanian with his whole family in search of the American dream. A couple days from living in Packingtown he realized it that it will be hard to succeed in the corrupted and violent community. He was still determined to succeed and give his family a better life, like most immigrants feel when they begin. Real state convinced the family to buy a house. The family signs an agreement thinking that it was going to be great like they had told them, but the agreement is full of hidden costs, and the house is in a bad state.

The title of the novel, “The Jungle” symbolizes the survival of the strongest similar to a real jungle. The king of the jungle has always been the Lion and it will be really hard for a mouse to reach its title. The same thing happens in the book only that we are all the same species and strength is not determined by how hard you work but the level of class you were born in. Capitalism offers the opportunity to change your class level if you work for it. But the immigrant family realized that its not true the higher class level makes sure that no one can get to their place by eating the smaller prays. Upton Sinclair makes those who succeed in the capitalist system sound not the best of humankind but rather the worst and most corrupt of all. After Jurgis Rudkus lost his son and his wife he gave up in succeed and began to numb his pain with alcohol. Jurgis start working for a corrupt politic, Mike Scully who makes buy convincing immigrants to by houses to which the Jurgis’ family became victim of. Jurgis becomes more disappointed with society for his first time he earns a good salary but feels guilty. Marija, Jurgis sister in law, become a prostitute and addicted to morphine to help support her and the children.

Packingtown and the stockyards symbolize the exploitation of workers. For the factory owners, the workers are nothing more then a piece of meat in the meatpacking plants. The crowed animal stockyards symbolize the Packingtown’s crowed living, with no personal space or privacy, similar to animals in the stockyards. One day Ona, Jurgis wife doesn’t come back from work, and Jurgis discovers that Phil Connor, her boss, forced her to sleep with him. Jurgis with anger attacks Connor and is arrested, after the corrupted trials; Jurgis is sentenced for a month in prison. Her testimonial was worth nothing less then a piece of meat.

In conclusions The Jungle, has many symbols the compare the life of animals to the worth less life’s of the people in Packingtown. The American dream is cover by the words opportunities; wealth prosperity and capitalism, making people feel that the dream is reachable. Sinclair symbolizes the rotten cans of meat in the same way the american dream is covered by its shiny surface. The Jungle symbolized the true capitalist idea that big animal eat the smallest and Packingtown and the stockyards symbolize the moral and physical abuse of the workers.