The Appeal Of Socialism Essay, Research Paper

The Appeal of Socialism

During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s hundreds of thousands of

European immigrants migrated to the United States of America. They had

aspirations of success, prosperity and their own conception of the American

Dream. The majority of the immigrants believed that their lives would

completely change for the better and the new world would bring nothing but

happiness. Advertisements that appeared in Europe offered a bright future

and economic stability to these naive and hopeful people. Jobs with

excellent wages and working conditions, prime safety, and other benefits

seemed like a chance in a lifetime to these struggling foreigners. Little

did these people know that what they would confront would be the complete

antithesis of what they dreamed of.

The enormous rush of European immigrants encountered a lack of

jobs. Those who were lucky enough to find employment wound up in

factories, steel mills, or in the meat packing industry. Jurgis Rudkus was

one fo these dissapointed immigrants. A sweeper in slaughter house, he

experienced the horrendous conditions which laborers encountered Along

with these nightmarish working conditions, they worked for nominal wages,

inflexible and long hours, in an atmosphere where worker safety had no

persuasion. Early on, there was no one for these immigrants to turn to, so

many suffered immensely. Jurgis would later learn of worker unions and

other groups to support the labor force, but the early years of his

Americanized life were filled, with sliced fingers, unemployment and

overall a depressing and painful “new start”.

Sinclair, has shown in a dramatic style the hardships and

obastacles which Jurgis and fellow workers had to endure. He made the

workers sound so helpless and the condtions so greusome, that the reader

almost wants a way out for Jurgis. Sinclair’s The Jungle is a “subliminal”

form of propaganda for Socialism. At a time in our nations history where

the rich were very wealthy, and the poor were peniless, Sinclair’s

portrayal of socialism in regards to the laborer is very appealing to a

jobless, hungry, indigent man.

Sinclair’s vision of socialism, wasn’t as flawless and beneficial

as it seemed. Although it gave the workers some motivation to work as well

as the could it was an attempt to commonize the working class. The Marxist

theory of communism stemmed from the ideologies displayed by socialism.

The masses of the population were controlled by a small elite. Sinclair

was a believer in socialism, and Jurgis was a member of the party. But

fortunately for today’s working force, the concept and potential threat of

socialism was stifled before it could make a permanent mark of American

society.