The Jungle: The Appeal Of Socialism Essay, Research Paper

The Jungle: 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.