What was the main idea of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair?

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The main theme of The Jungle is the evil of capitalism. Every event, especially in the first twenty-seven chapters of the book, is chosen deliberately to portray a particular failure of capitalism, which is, in Sinclair's view, inhuman, destructive, unjust, brutal, and violent.



Also, what is the main purpose of the book the jungle?

Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. Before the turn of the 20th century, a major reform movement had emerged in the United States.

Subsequently, question is, what are some themes in the jungle? Themes in The Jungle
  • Theme #1. Capitalism and Its Downside. This is the most important and recurrent theme of the novel.
  • Theme #2. Flawed American Dream.
  • Theme #3. Culture and Migration.
  • Theme #4. Influence of Politics.
  • Theme #5. Gender Abuse.
  • Theme #6. Familial Ties.
  • Theme #7. Poverty.
  • Theme #8. Slaved Labor.

Then, what is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair summary?

Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States.

What does the publication of the jungle say about the progressive movement?

The publication of "The Jungle" tells us that the people during the progressive movement were not afraid to speak their mind and wanted change. This also shows us all the improvements that were made during the progressive movement because people wanted change.

39 Related Question Answers Found

Why is the jungle banned?

The reason The Jungle was banned, according to the American Library Association is: "Banned from public libraries in Yugoslavia (1929). Burned in the Nazi bonfires because of Sinclair's socialist views (1933). Banned in East Germany (1956) as inimical to communism.

Why did Sinclair name in the jungle?

In the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, the title is truly a description of the world within the book. The publication of the book lead to public outrage about the meat sold to people as food with the contamination the book described. The jungle also referred to the conditions under which the workers labored.

What was Elzbieta's job?

The point is, Teta Elzbieta's primary role in the novel is to be the mother of the household. She looks after the cooking and cleaning until it becomes absolutely necessary for her to go out and get a job (after Marija and Jurgis become unemployed). She is also extremely, extremely practical.

What time period was the jungle set in?

The Progressive Era, Upton Sinclair, and The Jungle
In 1904, a socialist magazine hired him to write an exposé on the meat packing industry. Sinclair moved to Chicago and spent seven weeks in Packingtown, the residential district near the packing plants.

What was Upton Sinclair's main purpose in writing the jungle quizlet?

Upton Sinclair originally intended to expose the inner workings, but what did he actually expose? He exposed how the industry actually was and what was going into the meat. What inspired Sinclair to write this book? Sinclair said he felt as though it was his job, as a journalist, to expose the secrets to the public.

What was the jungle about quizlet?

(TR) , muckraker who shocked the nation when he published The Jungle, a novel that revealed gruesome details about the meat packing industry in Chicago. The book was fiction but based on the things Sinclair had seen. This 1906 work by Upton Sinclair pointed out the abuses of the meat packing industry.

What event begins the book the jungle?

The Jungle begins on the wedding day of two Lithuanian immigrants, Jurgis and Ona, highlighting many of the traditional Lithuanian customs that family members like Marija and Teta Elzbieta attempt to keep alive now that they live in Chicago.

What happens to Jurgis at the end of the jungle?


In the original serial form of The Jungle, Jurgis is arrested on election night; however, this ending does not emphasize a socialist triumph, and Sinclair changed the ending when The Jungle was published in book form. itinerant traveling from place to place or on a circuit. stygian dark or gloomy.

Where does Ona work in the jungle?

Ona goes back to work at Brown's packing plant right after giving birth. She loses her health and develops a bad cough. Jurgis is too distracted by his own workplace injury and bitterness to notice. Jurgis also does not know that Ona is approached one night be one of the bosses at her factory.

What did Upton Sinclair find?

In 1906, Sinclair acquired particular fame for his classic muck-raking novel The Jungle, which exposed labor and sanitary conditions in the U.S. meatpacking industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

What is Packingtown in the jungle?

"Packingtown," Chicago's Meatpacking District in the early 1900s. What makes The Jungle important is the setting in Chicago's meatpacking factories. Upton Sinclair combined his own socialist ideals and agenda with some really hard-hitting descriptions of Packingtown and its poor sanitation and hygiene.

How many chapter are in the jungle?

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Chapters 28-31 Summaries
The concluding chapters of Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' introduce the protagonist Jurgis to socialism.

How many copies of the jungle were sold?


In 1906, The Jungle was published and became an immediate success, selling more than 150,000 copies. A best seller overseas, it was published in 17 languages over the next few years.

How many letters a day did Roosevelt receive after the Jungle was published?

About a month after “The Jungle” was published, the White House started receiving “100 letters a day demanding a Federal cleanup of the meat industry,” Alden Whitman wrote in Sinclair's obituary. (He died on Nov. 25, 1968.) Roosevelt invited Sinclair to the White House, then ordered a federal investigation.

Is the jungle fiction or nonfiction?

“The Jungle” is a work of fiction.
Unlike most other muckrakers, such as Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens, Sinclair mainly wrote fiction.