The Jungle (1906) is a novel by American author and socialist Upton Sinclair. It describes the life of a family of Lithuanian immigrants working in Chicago's Union Stock Yards at the beginning of the 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, complete absence of social security, scandalous living and working conditions, and generally utter hopelessness prevalent among the have-nots, which is contrasted with the deeply-rooted corruption on the part of the haves. The sad state of turn-of-the-century labor is placed front and center for the American public to see suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American "wage slavery".^[1] The novel is also an important example of the "muckraking" tradition begun by journalists such as Jacob Riis. Sinclair wanted to show how the mainstream parties of American politics, already being tied into the industrial-capitalist machine, offered little means for progressive change. As such the book is deeply supportive of values and criticisms held by Communism, a movement still in its infancy at the time. “The Jungle” is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone. ... The Jungle, formally know as Wheldon Road, is the home of the Castleford Tigers Rugby League team. ... This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Upton Sinclair Jr. ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Social fiction (also called political fiction) is sub-genre of science fiction focused on possible development of societies (most often set in near future or a fictional country), very often dominated by totalitarian governments. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ... “ISBN” redirects here. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Upton Sinclair Jr. ... Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... ÊÊÊÊThe Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... Social security primarily refers to social welfare service concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. ... Wage slavery is a term used to refer to a condition in which a person chooses a job but only within a coerced set of choices (e. ... Bold text McClures Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901) published many early muckraker articles. ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... Jacob Riis in 1906 Jacob August Riis (May 3, 1849 - May 26, 1914), a Danish-American muckraker journalist, photographer, and social reformer, was born in Ribe, Denmark. ...

Upton Sinclair came to Chicago with the intent of writing this novel; he had been given a stipend by the socialist newspaper The Appeal to Reason. Upon his arrival in the lobby of the Chicago Transit House, a hotel near the stockyards, he was quoted as saying, "Hello! I'm Upton Sinclair, and I'm here to write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor Movement!" (Arthur, 43). He rented living quarters and immediately immersed himself in the city by walking its streets, talking to its people, and taking pictures. One Sunday afternoon, he fell in with a group of Lithuanian immigrants traveling from a wedding to the party that was to follow; he was welcomed to the festivities and spent the evening there dancing the night away - "Behold, there was the opening scene of my story, a gift from the gods." Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ...

The novel was first published in serial form in 1906 by The Appeal to Reason; "after five rejections", its first edition as a novel was published by Doubleday, Page & Company on February 28, 1906, and it became an immediate bestseller.^[1] It has been in print ever since. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Public and federal response

Chicago meat inspectors in early 1906

Sinclair's account of workers falling into meat processing tanks and being ground, along with animal parts, into "Durham's Pure Leaf Lard", gripped public attention. The morbidity of the working conditions as well as the exploitation of children and women alike that Sinclair exposed, showed the corruption taking place inside the meat packing factories. Foreign sales of American meat fell by one-half. In order to calm public outrage and demonstrate the cleanliness of their meat, the major meat packers lobbied the Federal government to pass legislation paying for additional inspection and certification of meat packaged in the United States. ^[2] Their efforts, coupled with the public outcry, led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (573x640, 72 KB) Summary TITLE: Splitting backbones and final inspection - hogs ready for cooler, Swift & Co. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (573x640, 72 KB) Summary TITLE: Splitting backbones and final inspection - hogs ready for cooler, Swift & Co. ... The United States Meat Inspection Act of 1906 authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to order meat inspections and condemn any meat product found unfit for human consumption. ... This is an article about the United States Food and Drug Act; for the Canadian version see Food and Drugs Act. ... “FDA” redirects here. ...

Although the meat packers were lobbying the government for legislation, they were actually opposed to having federal regulation of their products. Sinclair and President Theodore Roosevelt were both integral in the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Roosevelt was sent multiple copies of The Jungle, including one by Sinclair himself, prompting curiosity about the matter of meat inspection, but not much else. After much persuasion from Sinclair as to the seriousness of the situation, Roosevelt agreed to send two men to investigate Sinclair's claims. The men the president chose, Charles P. Neill and James B. Reynolds, had both done investigative work for Roosevelt before, and were thought trustworthy. Sinclair really wanted Roosevelt to send his inspectors into the factories so they could see how poorly the workers were being treated; he wanted the nation to become better educated on the aforementioned issue of "wage slavery". Instead, what he got was tunnel vision reports from Neill and Reynolds. Instead of the poor conditions and inhumane treatment of the workers, they chose to focus their reports on only the cleanliness, or lack thereof, in these packing factories. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ...

Even though the meat packers had forewarning and time to clean up, the conditions Neill and Reynolds observed were described as "revolting;" the only claim left unsubstantiated by the report was the sensational claim that workers who had fallen into the giant lard vats were left and sold as lard. Roosevelt was so concerned about the impact of Neill and Reynold's report on western stock growers and European meat importers that he did not release the findings for publication. Instead, he helped the issue along by dropping hints of what was in the report, alluding to disgusting conditions and inadequate inspection measures. This pressure was adequate, although the bill that was finally passed did not include dating cans of meat or charging the packers for inspection costs.^[3] Sinclair actually rejected this legislation, seeing it as an unjustified boon to large meat packers partially because the U.S. treasury had to bear the costs of inspection at $3,000,000 a year.^[4][5] He famously noted the limited effect of his book (which led to meat packing regulations, but not to reform of the wages and living conditions of its workers) by stating, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."

In 1914 the All Star Features Corp. produced the silent film 'The Jungle' based on Sinclair's book.

Plot summary

Panorama of the beef industry in 1900 by a Chicago based photographer

The novel opens with a dramatic description of a Lithuanian wedding feast, which introduces the reader to all of its major characters — Jurgis Rudkus (originally "Rudkos"^[6]), his bride Ona, their extended family and their friends. The musicians play, the guests dance, food and drink flow freely, but an undercurrent of terror foreshadows what is to come — will they fall hopelessly into debt while fulfilling their cherished tradition of an extravagantly generous Lithuanian wedding? Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3300x420, 578 KB) Summary TITLE: Panoramic picture illustrating the beef industry, 1900 CALL NUMBER: LOT 5786 no. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3300x420, 578 KB) Summary TITLE: Panoramic picture illustrating the beef industry, 1900 CALL NUMBER: LOT 5786 no. ...

Lured away from Lithuania by promises of a better life, the Rudkus family has arrived in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois at the end of the 19th century, only to find that their dreams of a decent life are not likely to ever come true. Jurgis has brought his father Antanas, his fiancee Ona, her stepmother Teta Elzbieta, Teta Elzbieta's brother Jonas and her six children, and Ona's cousin Marija Berczynskas along. From the very beginning they have to make compromises and concessions in order to be able to survive. They fall prey to con men, and unscrupulous realtors cheat them out of their plans to own a home. The family had envisioned that Jurgis alone would be able to support them, but one by one, all of them — the women, the young children, and Jurgis's sick father — are forced to find jobs and contribute to the meager family income. The black shadow of capitalism takes ahold of their family as they are forced to succumb to the demands of the upper class. As the novel progresses, the jobs and means the family uses to stay alive lead to their moral decay. Back of the Yards is an industrial and residential neighborhood (located in the New City community area) on the Southwest Side of Chicago, so named because it is near the site of the former Union Stockyards. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short, (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ...

They are faced with a cruel world of work in the Chicago stockyards, where everyone has his or her price, where everyone in a position of power, including government inspectors, the police and judges, must be paid off, and where blacklisting is common. A series of unfortunate events — accidents at work, a number of deaths in the family that under normal circumstances could have been preventable — lead the family further towards catastrophe. Jurgis Rudkus, the book's main character, is young, strong, and honest, but also naïve and illiterate; this erstwhile Lithuanian farmboy is no match for the powerful forces of American industrial capitalism, and he gradually loses all hope of ever succeeding in the New World. After Ona dies in childbirth — for lack of money to pay for a doctor — and their young son drowns in the muddy street, he flees the city in a state of utter despair. At first the mere presence of fresh air is balm to his soul, but his brief sojourn as a hobo in rural America shows him that there is really no escape — even farmers turn their workers away when the harvest is finished. A stockyard is a place for the sale and shipping of livestock. ... A blacklist is a list or register of people who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, or mobility. ... The protagonist is the central figure of a story, and is often referred to as a storys main character. ... World illiteracy rates by country Literacy is the ability to read and write. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Men walking on cattle pens in the Chicago stockyard (1909)

Jurgis returns to Chicago, and holds down a succession of jobs outside the meat packing industry — digging tunnels, as a political hack, and as a con man — but injuries on the jobs, his past, and his innate sense of personal integrity, continue to haunt him, and he drifts without direction. One night, while looking for a warm and dry refuge, he wanders into a lecture being given by a charismatic socialist orator, and finds a sense of community and purpose. Socialism and strong labor unions are the answer to all the evils that he, his family, and all their fellow sufferers have had to endure. Industry needs to value labor instead of just the product. A fellow socialist employs him, and he resumes his support of his wife's family, although some of them are damaged beyond repair. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (547x640, 69 KB) Summary TITLE: [In the heart of the Great Union Stock Yards, Chicago, U.S.A.] CALL NUMBER: LOT 11985-1 <item> [P&P] Check for an online group record (may link to related items) REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (547x640, 69 KB) Summary TITLE: [In the heart of the Great Union Stock Yards, Chicago, U.S.A.] CALL NUMBER: LOT 11985-1 <item> [P&P] Check for an online group record (may link to related items) REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers. ...

Soon after, the socialist rally is triumphantly chanting "Chicago will be ours!" and Jurgis has caught the eye of a sympathetic young woman.

Jungle as metaphor

Upton Sinclair titles his book The Jungle to make a specific criticism of the capitalist system. The mechanization of American society was supposed to bring progress and increased order. Sinclair, however, notes that this increased industrialism has had the reverse effect. Sinclair's Packingtown more closely resembles a Darwinian jungle, or Thomas Hobbes' envisioned "state of nature" — individualistic, ultra-competitive, and amoral. Every man must learn to fight for himself, and the strong constantly prey on the weak. Thus Sinclair contradicts the belief that industrialization and capitalism bring increased order by equating such a reality to that of the jungle. The Jungle is a major critique of laissez-faire capitalism and the greed and fierce competition that it brews. “Hobbes” redirects here. ... State of nature is a term in political philosophy used in social contract theories to describe the hypothetical condition of humanity before the states foundation and its monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force. ...

Using a rain forest as a literary device was not new to literature at the time; its romantic connotations had been explored by Rudyard Kipling in the Jungle Book (1894). Mowgli, the hero of these works, is adopted by animals, and thrives with their help. A somewhat darker version of the metaphor was employed by W.H. Hudson in Green Mansions (1904), in which Rima, a girl raised in the Amazon, is undone by the sophisticated machinations of her lover and her adoptive father; and by Frank Baum in the first of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novels (1900), wherein the protagonists are terrorized during their passage through a dark forest. Describing a city in this way, however, was a new development. This article is about the British author. ... The Jungle Book (1967 movie) French edition, 1957. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Mowgli by John Lockwood Kipling (father of Rudyard Kipling). ... William Henry Hudson (August 4, 1841 - August 18, 1922) was an Argentinan-British author, naturalist and ornithologist. ... Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest is an exotic romance about a traveller to the Guyana jungle of Southeastern Venezuela, as told by William Henry Hudson. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Amazon River basin The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. ... Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 - May 6, 1919) was an American author and the creator of one of the most beloved classics of childrens literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. ... For the film, see The Wizard of Oz (1939 film). ... Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ...

The metaphor had been visited in an even darker way by Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness in 1902, and was revived by the novella's adaptation into the movie Apocalypse Now in 1979. The Asphalt Jungle, a 1950 film, recreated a sense of the cruelty of the 20th century urban condition. A resurgence of the romantic use of this metaphor is demonstrated in Disney's The Lion King, created in the 1990s. The term jungle has largely been replaced by rain forest, but the connotations of the word are still well-known. By using the jungle as metaphor, Sinclair suggests that those who attempt to succeed through capitalist means are not "the fittest" but instead are the most corrupt. // Joseph Conrad (born Teodor Józef Konrad Nałęcz-Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-born novelist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. ... For other uses, see Heart of Darkness (disambiguation). ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Apocalypse Now is a 1979 Academy and Golden Globe award winning American film set during the Vietnam War. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 film noir directed by John Huston. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about Disneys 1994 film. ... A rainforest is a forested biome with high annual rainfall. ...

Footnotes

This article needs cleanup. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

The Jungle (novel)

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Jungle

• The Jungle, available at Project Gutenberg.
• "Defense of The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition" by Earl Lee
• "The Fictitious Suppression of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle," by historian Christopher Phelps
• The Jungle free literary analysis from SparkNotes.com
• Upton Sinclair: The Lithuanian Jungle, Giedrius Subacius, 2006, ISBN , identifies many of the actual Chicago locations mentioned in the novel
• A Chicago Sun-Times journalist visits the Chicago locations in The Jungle with author Giedrus Subacius [1]
• Slate.com article: Welcome to The Jungle - Does Upton Sinclair's famous novel hold up? [2]
• Mother Jones Magazine article marking the anniversary [3]
• USA Today reviews a new biography of Upton Sinclair [4]
• PBS special report marking the 100th anniversary of the novel [5]
• Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism revisits The Jungle [6]
• Penguin Classics reissue, featuring an introduction from Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser [7]