Upton Sinclair presented the life of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, in the meatpacking district of Chicago, where many other immigrants were also trying to get by. Jurgis tried to support his Ona and other relatives, but eventually, they all, including the children and his sick father, had to find work to survive, but the jobs led to real tragedies for them all. Jurgis takes a job at Brown's slaughterhouse, where he finds working-conditions harsh. The couple struggles to survive as they fall deeply into debt and become prey to con men. When they finally have some savings for a house down payment, it is a slum house, and they soon lose it and all the money they put into it and are evicted.
The central theme of The Jungle is the evil of capitalism, a system that, in Sinclair’s view, was inhuman, destructive, unjust, brutal, violent, and, as implied by the name, about human greed and the social damage it does
Every event in the book is written to portray a particular failure of capitalism, which is, in Sinclair's view, inhuman, destructive, unjust, brutal, and violent.
The meat packing industry and its harsh working conditions are perfect for Sinclair's primary purpose to advance socialism in the United States.
The book’s impact would have disappointed Sinclair because most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry during the early 20th century, which significantly contributed to a public outcry that led to reforms, including the Meat Inspection Act.
Sinclair said of the public reaction, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident, I hit it in the stomach.
Upton Sinclair Quotes
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
“I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident, I hit it in the stomach.”
“Fascism” is capitalism plus murder.
“All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.”