The Jungle Get it now!

Excited about using my new Kindle DX, I downloaded an old book that I was assigned to read when I was a freshman in college, years ago: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

It's a very interesting book. It has a very Socialist viewpoint. In fact, Upton Sinclair, who was quite a socialist, wrote the book as an expose of capitalism, an endorsement of unions, and a call to workers to unite. It was very interesting reading until the last few chapters, where in my opinion it turned into a Socialistic propaganda pamphlet--totally out of context with the entire story. I thought the last chapters ruined the book. However, in its day it was a big seller and won Sinclair much attention. So be it for 1906--different times.

In any case, his descriptions of the stockyards and meat packing houses of Chicago were truly graphic and very memorable. Everyone should read it to gain an understanding of life during the adolecence of the industrial revolution--just stop at Chapter 30. However, I dare say, it encourages me to become a vegetarian. I understand the book was the motivation for the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which eventually led to the Food and Drug Administration. This is significant because, the motivation of Sinclair was to move the workers to political action. As such it failed to accomplish its charge. However, it did cause Americans to question the quality of its food supply and create safeguards against tainted food. Interestingly, Sinclair is attributed with a quote, which has him saying, "I intended to shoot the public in the heart with my message; instead I hit them in the stomach"--amusing, isn't it?

It is interesting that Sinclair lays the blame of the ills of society in the lap of the rich capitalists. There are abuses to be sure, but there is very little said in The Jungle about individual responsibility. Although, the main character, Jurgis, holds himself responsible for protecting and nurturing his loved ones, the tone of the book implies that fate is totally in control of his ruined destiny. Whereas, there are numerous occasions in the story where a right decision on the part of Jurgis could have changed everyone's fortunes. Unfortunately, the story line creates a scenario where Jurgis appears destined to fail, through no real fault of his own. There is no support to the idea people are not predestined to fail. Failure, in most cases is self-imposed, the result of a series of very poor decisions. And the simple truth is poor decisions are not exclusive to the very poor alone. We all make poor decisions. The person who succeeds is the one who learns from those poor decisions. Jurgis, certainly did not.
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