The Jungle Essay

Wage Slavery

"The Jungle"

Upton Sinclair is an American author known for his "classic muckraking" novel "The Jungle." During the early 19th century, the Jungle caused a tremendous uproar all over the world. This outrage was initiated due to Sinclair's blatantly way of unmasking and exposing the meat packing industries in America. Sinclair's need to expose the mistreat of factory bosses was not in vain. Many immigrants went to America to live in a better world. Most immigrants, if not all believed they were going to become rich if they were to migrate to America "So America was a place of which lovers and young people dreamed." (p.27) This believe was soon crushed, realizing that American people were greedy, corrupt and exploited even their fellow Americans.

Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who along with his family came to America with the purpose of living in a better world later discovers how harsh working conditions can be. Jurgis had to work harder everyday to support his family that depended totally on his wage. He realized there were horrible working conditions in the packing plants. "Room was full of steam...the steer was generally blind and frantic...think of the chances of running upon a knife...every man had one in his hand." (p.116) People went to work every day wondering if they would make it another day because of the extreme conditions. The bosses didn't care under what condition you had to work; they just wanted the work done in time. Many

employees got hurt or killed, but it didn't matter because there was always someone to take their place.

Jurgis situation is a perfect example of Sinclair's indictment of wage slavery towards these bosses. The bosses of Packingtown took advantage of everyone who worked for them. "He told me-he would have me turned off." (p.151) They were paid an amount that was hardly enough to survive, and took advantage of them for their own wants and needs. The immigrants didn't know any better, they thought they were getting paid well. Americans were very greedy. "..in the winter...the earnings of Jurgis dropped from nine or ten dollars a week to five or six..." (p. 102) The bosses were getting richer by the minute, while people starved on the streets. The workers were basically slaves to the bosses because they depended on their money to survive day to day.

However, the workers dared not complain. Outside the packing plants, newly arrived immigrants men and women desperate for jobs offered to work for even lower wages. All day long the gates of the packing houses were besieged by starving and penniless men and women. They came by the thousands every single morning, fighting with each other for a chance for life. Blizzards and cold made no difference to them, they were always on hand this made it very clear for