The Jungle
by Upton Sinclair
A bit of chugging required. Before I picked up this book, I already had a basic knowledge of the background circumstances. Mainly, the political graft and corruption that ran rampant in the United States in the early 20th century, as well as the severely harsh conditions imposed on the immigrants coming in through Ellis Island. It helped me have the rght perspective in mind when I read through some of the drier parts of the narration: the overly detailed accounts of the butchering processes in factories, the elaborate monologues by socialists, the overbearing description of the protagonist's utterly bereft situation. All of these I interpreted as supporting statements for the author's argument about immigrant workers in America, rather than as divergeances from the main storyline. Indeed, in Upton Sinclair's novel, the plot is hardly central. If somebody picks up this book expecting a good story and some sympathetic characters, there is not much to be gleaned. But if every element, every paragraph is taken to be a survey of the lives of the oppressed in the 20th century, then this book can be fairly enlightening.
The first chapter starts off at a wedding. When I read the opening paragraph depicting the merry celebrations of a newlywed Lithuanian couple, I confess: I did a double take, made sure I had the right book in my hands, and read the paragraph twice more to ensure that indeed--it was a jolly wedding. It is only when Jurgis, the groom, suggests that his bride Ona take the next day off from work that the theme of the book becomes clearer. Ona protests violently, despite it being their honeymoon. Her reason is that if she takes the day off, they "shall be ruined."
This first glimpse at the darker side of the narration leads to an explanation of how this family ended up at a wedding in America, and at first, the author's voice, and the characters' attitudes, are deceptively upbeat. Everything is flowers and meadows, dreams of hope and riches and freedom, awestruck wonder at the technology of the US meat-packing industries.
But time moves forward. The family buys a house. They get jobs. They settle down to earn a living. And they find themselves caught up in the destructive competition among workingmen. If one doesn't work well enough, they find themselves out on the streets, replaced at the job by someone else willing to work for half the pay. The jobs are dangerous, unsanitary, and monotonous. It becomes increasingly harder for the family to make ends meet. It is at this point in the story that Jurgis and Ona get married. Their attempt to hang on to their traditions, and indeed, humanity itself, glitters as the last glimpse of their happiness, before they are plunged into debt, poverty, oppression, and misery.
I thought this to be a clever set-up on the author's part. Behind the merrymakings of the first chapter, there lies a deep cavern of human misery into which polite society dares not look. Most Americans of Sinclair's time must have imagined the lives of immigrants to be something like that wedding--though they may not have the best of circumstances, they make do with what they have and achieve happiness one way or another. But in the rest of book, Sinclair clearly denies this illusion. Immigrants are not even given the chance that Lady Liberty stands for. As the book puts it, they sow so that others may reap. They die without ever gleaning the fruits of their labor.
Another thing I noted in the course of this book was the way Sinclair managed to portray all the different facets of American society through just one character. Jurgis, who starts out as a dreaming young man moving to America, lives through a great many changes in his lives, each reflecting an aspect of the US that hadn't been visible before. First, he toils as a working man among the machines, slowly wasting away under the pressures of family burdens and low wages. At one point, he finds himself being paid to vote for a political candidate of his district, showing the readers a glimpse of the lowest portion of the political corruption system. Then he is unjustly thrown in jail and meets the criminals of America--an even darker side of American society than before. When he emerges, he goes on to wander the country as a "hobo," and through a series of events, becomes involved in the heart of the political manipulations going on in Chicago. In essence, Jurgis travels from being politically manipulated to becoming a political manipulator. Thus, the reader has a chance to take a look at the process directly, rather than simply wondering at its inner workings the whole time.
But Jurgis' period of political involvement doesn't last too long, and he finally ends up among the Socialists. During this time period, most Americans scoffed at the idea of socialism--it seemed unnecessary when democracy ruled DC. But Jurgis' interpretation of Socialism is startling. To him, socialism is the only doctrine that offers a solid, practical way to escape the endless cycle of misery he has been condemned to. Everything in this book, portrayed from the point of view of the lowest class of men, becomes inverted. The meat-packing industries that provide food to so many homes are now the lowest, dirties, scum-of-the-earth who suck the life and will out of the poor to buy diamond rings for the rich. Unlike the American ideal of a settled home and a family, Jurgis prefers to wander alone, unburdened by the responsibility of blood relatives to take care of. Democracy is powerless; it is socialism that brings renewed hope. All of these would have contradicted typical American beliefs at the time, yet Sinclair portrays these views so convincingly that even president Roosevelt felt the need to act upon it, if somewhat reluctantly.
Mostly, what strikes me about this book is the imploring voice of the narrator. It felt a bit over-the-top, and sometimes downright exaggerated, but overall there is a sense of urgency and disgust at the state of conditions that calls for the reader to think more deeply about the truth of these statements. It isn't so much about the disgusting tubs of lard and fat being processed through contaminated tubs. This book reveals the absence of democracy in the land of the free, as seen through the eyes of people who felt the repurcussions the most.
