By Upton Sinclair "The jungle" Book Review

“The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair is an incredible book that is well known for its condemnation of the unsanitary conditions of meatpacking plants, but many people today do not know that this book had a much broader scope and ambition. immense. He also dealt with issues of racism, immigration, poverty, rampant capitalism, and social injustice.

It is not out of place to say that Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” is arguably one of the best American books of the 20th century. This book is written as fiction as it depicts the real conditions of America for the immigrant Jurgis Rudkus, who comes in search of the American Dream in the early 20th century and finds nothing but pain, anguish and dire conditions for all in oppressive poverty. .

Upton Sinclair shows that even as immigrants to survive, who come to fight, it is a desperate battle. They work in the packing houses that take advantage of their slave labor while bringing poverty, disease, death, injury, injustice, rape, jail and hopelessness. With no other options and a thousand men clamoring at the door for their work, they remain in position with no possibility of improvement or escape.

Upton Sinclair uses the story of Jurgis to show first-hand experiences of a system in which capitalism goes berserk without any checks and balances. In pursuit of even an extra half cent of profit, inspectors bribe spoiled meat, men are crushed and killed, waste is dumped into public drinking water, and people are sickened by the tens of thousands, so some guys very rich on top can get rich a bit.

This is an amazing book, although its main weaknesses are the same as those in most of Upton Sinclair’s novels. One is that the opening is slow. It takes a long time in the first chapters to introduce all the characters, and the other is that the end reads like propaganda. Upton Sinclair believed that all literature was propaganda, so this is not surprising.

These are minor weaknesses of an overall amazing book that was one of the most influential in American history. Many believe that only Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” had more influence in America than Upton Sinclair.

“The Jungle” is the perfect example of a lost art: an astonishing fictional story that illustrates a point far more than non-fiction could hope for. Today, most fiction that tries to do the same seems to be a sermon and does not spend enough time on the story. Upton Sinclair’s novel is amazing and should continue to be read today as a reminder of what literature can do to help society and not to forget how bad things used to be.