Literature Analysis #2: The Jungle

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair.

The year - 1900. Jurgis Rudkus is but a poor Lithuanian, a man whose knowledge is mediocre but whose strength is vast and work ethic mighty. A man who was inspired by "the American Dream", an idea that was almost too good to be true. A land where those who worked were paid their fair share, where the world was rich with milk and honey, where you could be anyone and anything. 'Tis a consumation devoutly to be wished. And who else but dear Jurgis, a man whose strength and work ethic are the envy of the world, would be fit for the "American Dream"? Lead by this fantasy, this idea, Jurgis and his newlywed Ona bring along all their family members, so certain are they that Jurgis can support them. Alas, that would not be the case.  Due to their lack of English, they quickly fall prey to con men, most notably when, in their attempts to buy a house, a real estate agent "conveniently" forgot to mention that they had to pay interest along with rent every month, thereby crippling the family financially, and make it easy to evict them should they fail to pay rent. This leaves the family to start having others, such as Marija and Dede Antanas, working. As the family soon discovers, all is not as it seems in Packington. The owners of the packing industry overwork their employees to the point of burnout, if not death. There is little to no worker support for unions, due to the companies having complete control over the Packington. The only way to move up the ladder is to engage in treachery, swindling, and betrayal. Immigrants are constantly taken advantage of, and nothing is done. Politics are corrupt at their core. The meat is old, diseased, rotted, and filled with lard, feces and human flesh as it is sold to the American public. Crime is more profitable than hard work. Workers are forced to work twice as hard for half the wage, and will be fired if they are so much as twenty minutes late. As such, life sucks for everyone but the 1% and Jurgis and Co. are no different. Injuries, sickness and death plague the family, forcing them closer and closer to ruination. Jurgis develops an addiction to alcohol and becomes injured, further eating away income. This forces the family to have all the children work to compensate for the lost income. However, as the family discovers, jobs are especially easy to lose during the off-season, which only adds even more worry than need be. And as the family discovers, it's not a measure of what you know, but who you know that makes the difference. This is evidenced by the fact that Jurgis attacked Phil Connors, a man who had raped Ona, and Jurgis was the one sentenced to thirty days in jail. However, the coup de grace comes when Ona and their second child die. Jurgis, devastated at the loss, leaves the rest of the family to fend for themselves and heads out to the countryside. There, he makes a short living as a hobo, but discovers that the outside world is no different compared to Packington and decides to head back. There, he obtains a multitude of jobs yet continually loses them, due to a mixture of both stupidity and luck. However, he finally discovers his calling when he attends a Socialist party meeting. Inspired by their message, Jurgis commits himself fully to the party, and invites the remainder of his family to join. Some do join, however, Marija can't due to the fact that she is now a prostitute, and the only thing keeping her from being arrested is the brothel. The story ends with the Socialist Party proclaiming that "Chicago will be ours! CHICAGO WILL BE OURS!" (pg. 396)

2) The theme of the novel is two-fold: on one hand it is to expose the rampart corruption found in the meat packing industry as a whole, and the exploitation of immigrants along with the general xenophobia of the American public. It also exposes the horrendous working conditions associated with low-skill jobs, and the ingredients that went into American beef as a whole. However, Upton Sinclair used his novel as a criticism of capitalism, and to expose its every flaw: most notably the pursuit of profit above all else, the lack of morals and ethics, the corruption, the dismissive attitude of the rich towards everyone else, the disparity of "haves vs have-nots", and how it is used to force workers to work under unbearable conditions because the moment they slack off is the moment they get fired. Above all else, it exposes how you earn more through cheating, stealing, lying and betraying in capitalism than you do through honest, hard work. It exposes the naivety of the "American dream" and how unscrupulous men take advantage of unsuspecting immigrants so as to better themselves, and yet no one cares. It is a criticism of American, and to a larger extent Western, society that embraces all the benefits that came about because of immigrant labor, yet refuses to do anything to aid immigrants because they are the scum of the Earth. However, all that meaning was lost to the audiences, as they were instead captivated by the grotesque descriptions of what went into their meat, how it was processed, and the overall working conditions of the meat-packaging industry, leading Sinclair to lament "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
3) The tone of Upton is sparse, disgusting, and depressing yet uplifting (if not manipulatively). Upton Sinclair, being a journalist, was not one to write prolix. He wrote what he needed to write no more, no less. For example:
“They had chains which they fastened about the leg of the nearest hog, and the other end of the chain they hooked into one of the rings upon the wheel. So, as the wheel turned, a hog was suddenly jerked off his feet and borne aloft. At the same instant the ear was assailed by a most terrifying shriek; the visitors started in alarm, the women turned pale and shrank back. The shriek was followed by another, louder and yet more agonizing--for once started upon that journey, the hog never came back; at the top of the wheel he was shunted off upon a trolley and went sailing down the room. And meantime another was swung up, and then another, and another, until there was a double line of them, each dangling by a foot and kicking in frenzy--and squealing. The uproar was appalling, perilous to the ear-drums; one feared there was too much sound for the room to hold--that the walls must give way or the ceiling crack. There were high squeals and low squeals, grunts, and wails of agony; there would come a momentary lull, and then a fresh outburst, louder than ever, surging up to a deafening climax. It was too much for some of the visitors--the men would look at each other, laughing nervously, and the women would stand with hands clenched, and the blood rushing to their faces, and the tears starting in their eyes. Meantime, heedless of all these things, the men upon the floor were going about their work. Neither squeals of hogs nor tears of visitors made any difference to them; one by one they hooked up the hogs, and one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats. There was a long line of hogs, with squeals and life-blood ebbing away together; until at last each started again, and vanished with a splash into a huge vat of boiling water. It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was pork-making by machinery, pork-making by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and they were so very human in their protests--and so perfectly within their rights! They had done nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury, as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this cold-blooded, impersonal way, without a pretence at apology, without the homage of a tear. Now and then a visitor wept, to be sure; but this slaughtering-machine ran on, visitors or no visitors. It was like some horrible crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded, buried out of sight and of memory.” (pg. 39-40) While it may seem long, it conveys so much meaning in what is relatively such short word usage. Here, we see the working conditions of the factories, and how fast-paced and workmanlike the workers are. Here, we see how the job has hardened the men, to the point where not even the squeal of a pig dying even causes them to flinch or abandon their work. And it is here where we begin to see that all is not as it seems for Packington. For example: "The floor was filty, yet [Packington] sent Antanas with his mop slopping the "pickle" into the hole that connected the sink, where it was caught and used over again forever; and if that were not enough, there was a trap in the pipe, where all the scraps of meat and odds and ends of refuse were caught , and every few days it was [Antanas]'s task to clean these out, and shovel their contents into one of the trucks with the rest of the meat!" (pg. 69) or "...the man who told told tales and spied upon his fellows would rise; but the man who minded his own business and did his own work-why they would "speed him up" till they had worn him out, and then they would throw him in the gutter." (pg. 68)  Upton certainly could've gone into a lot more detail, but his point has already been made. There's no need to add fluff to the story when the bare-bones is disgusting enough. And it creates a depressing mood, such as "[Jurgis] was condemned and sentenced, without trial and without appeal; he could never work for the packers again-he could not even clean cattle-pens or drive a truck in any place where they controlled." all because he defended his wife from a rapist. Towards the middle/end of the novel, things just keep getting more and more depressing, with more and more people close to Jurgis dying, and Jurgis continually suffering from discrimination. However, things (surprise, surprise) coincidentally turn around once Jurgis comes in contact with the Socialist Party. Now life gets better. Now Jurgis can finally get his life together. And now his family has hope, a hope to live, a hope to succeed, a hope to thrive. Now "Chicago is ours! CHICAGO IS OURS!" (pg. 396)

4) One key literary element Upton Sinclair relies on for story is pathos. Because without pathos, change cannot be brought. As he himself put it "I aimed for the public's heart..." As susch, Jurgis is constantly put into situations that are meant to tear at our heartstrings, or attract disgust at the amount of corruption found in Packington, or have us sympathize with the lowly immigrants.

Another literary element Upton Sinclair uses is a variant of "deus ex machina". Jurgis is downtrodden. He can't keep a job, his body is giving out on him, most of his family is dead. In short, it looks like Jurigs is just #@$% out of luck with no way out. An then comes the Socialist party, ready to help cure the ills of Jurgis and Co. Yay! It feels forced, and this is when Upton's political views start to distort and corrupt the actual story. In short, a story that tells the tale of the exploitation of the immigrants instead turns into near propoganda for the Socialist Party, which sucks in my opinion.

Another literary element Upton Sinclair uses is allegory/symbolism. All the different characters reflect in one way or another different aspects of American society as Upton saw it. Jurgis was the naive immigrant who bought into the American dream. Ona is the shattered realization that the dream is a lie. Phil Connors is the symbol of former immigrants who turn on the new ones. Phil Connors is Irish, meaning his family went through the same horrors as Jurgis did. Yet instead of sympathizing with them, he rapes Ona and blacklists Jurgis. Packington is your typical slum owned by the corporation, for the corporation to exploit innocent immigrants. The judges and policemen are symbols of the corruption of politics and law, and how those with the money and know-how can rig the cards in their favor. Jack Duane is the symbol of crime, and how it pays better to steal than to work honestly. Mike Scully is your typical scumbag politician, one who does not care about corruption so long as he's compensated. Freddie Jones symbolizes the lavishness and the carefree attitude of the rich, one who tosses around $100 like pennies and how spends money on however he sees fit. Stanislovas is your typical child worker who suffers from overuse nad poor working conditions. And Marija symbolizes the immigrant who must sacrifice all sense of shame so as to support the family. 

Another literary element Upton uses is tone. By creating a depressing story with depressing outcomes using depressing words, Upton is able to enhance the pathos in the story to an extent where he can manipulate the hearts of the readers to understand the plight of immigrants and bring about change. By creating a somber mood, the reader is now that much more engaged into the story.

Speaking of a story with a somber mood...

The final literary element that Upton uses is irony so that we can understand why change can't be brought about by the immigrants. For example, immigrants want change, yet for the most part buy into a system that actually prevents any form of change from happening, and support politicians like Scully who won't do a damn thing. Jurgis tries to recruit others to the Socialist party, yet finds them as stubborn as he once was. And the biggest irony of them all is poor Upton, a man who worked so hard to bring about change for immigration protection, only to see it squandered by the American public's fear of what was actually inside their food and drink. 

Characterization

1) For the most part Upton Sinclair, due to him being a journalist at heart, relies on direct characterization to describe Jurgis. Another reason for this is because he wants the reader to understand Jurgis, to sympathize with him. By telling us every single detail, we in an essence become Jurgis. And we come to understand his plight and, hopefully, try to bring about change because of it. For example, he tells us how sad Jurgis is when Ona dies, how despondent he is over his current situation, etc.  However, that isn't to say there isn't indirect characterization because there is. It's just sparsely located, and in general not very obvious. For example, when Jurgis is question by other immigrants about America, he simply sneers at them and tells them "I will work harder." This defines his naivety, as he is under the illusion that hard work defines success in America. And, through indirect uses such as him flexing his muscles and threatening others that get in his way, we are under the impression that he is one imposing, strong character that you do not mess with. 

2) Upton Sinclair does not change his syntax based on the situation at hand. It is always sparse, it is not going to change based on if he is focusing on Jurgis or not. Since he is a journalist at heart, he will always focus on trying to get the most meaning out of the least amount of words. After all, why waste so much time and effort through over usage of adjectives when the bare minimum have the same effect? As Hemingway said, "Poor Faulkner. Does he believe big emotions come from big words?"

3) Jurgis is a dynamic round character. At the beginning, he is a naive immigrant who foolishly believes in the American Dream, no questions asked. He is willing to overlook the flaws of Packington because he believes that, through hard work, he can become successful and obtain that illusive freedom he so longed for. He didn't understand where the other immigrants are coming from when they tell him he's naive and is foolishly chasing a dream he has no hopes of obtaining. He didn't understand the concept of a worker's union and found others lazy. However, as the story progresses, he becomes much more cynical, much more hardened. Once the glitz and glam of America wore off, he realizes he is in no better position than he was before. In fact, he is probably worse off. He, a man who had sworn off drinking, began to drink heavily. He, a man who had criticized workers unions, began to try to recruit others, only to find them as naive as he once was. He, a man who once praised America, began to curse it. He, a man who had preached about honest work, went into the field of crime and political graft to make ends meet. And he, a man who had once praised capitalism, joined the Socialist Party in the hopes of bringing about change. Here we have Jurgis Rudkus: a man who once was an immigrant dreaming of greater things, now trying to bring about change in the system. A man who realized, almost too late, the corruption and narcissism that plagued the American society. A man who figured out that America was a giant postcard of lies, lies that would unfortunately find their ways into other aspiring immigrants.

4) For the most part, I felt that I was reading a character. I was feeling empathy for Jurgis and the predicaments that he had to go through. I could understand his feeling of betrayal, his feelings of sadness as Ona died, his excitement as his first-born spoke, etc. However, as the story progressed, I started feeling like Jurgis was becoming less a character, and more a tool for a means. The amount of situations he was put in to cause grief were just way too numerous for it to feel real at the end, and the usage of the Socialist party by Sinclair seemed like a cop-out excuse at the end to shove his agenda down the readers' throats. In the end, it just seemed like Sinclair, in an attempt to go for our hearts, overdid the pathos so much it became bathos.