Thesis that dicusses immigrant life in the United States in the time period spanning US History between the end of the Civil War - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Other misfortunes befall the family – including sexual abuse by a predatory employer, prostitution, imprisonment, embezzlement, exposure to criminal elements until Jurgis becomes a criminal himself, alcoholism, political opportunism. Jurgis finds himself from being a loving husband and father, to a grief-ravaged and embittered man, to an exploited worker, to an unfairly imprisoned convict, to a hardened criminal, to an alcoholic, to a union member, to a vagabond, and finally to a socialist who believes that if people heed the call of social...ism, “Chicago will be ours”. The most famous misfortune and the one oft-discussed is his experiences in the meatpacking plant, which was fraught with dangers and labor rights violations. The description of the meatpacking plant and its sorry conditions were very graphic and shed light on the plight of the workers whose rights were routinely and wantonly violated. There are two themes running within the text: the American dream and how it has failed scores of immigrants who come to the United States, and second, the evils of Capitalism. The failure or the hollowness of the American dream is apparent from the very start of the text, with the festive but overly-expensive wedding celebration being used as a metaphor to describe a dream that is ornate in appearance but is, upon closer look, empty and will only bring more problems in the future, such as debt. The Lithuanian family initially entered America brimming with hope and promise, believing that America will be their salvation from poverty. The series of unfortunate events and tragedies that befell them have proved this belief to be wrong. The other theme is the indictment of capitalism and it is apparent in the way that the author Sinclair describes how the workers are being abused and how their rights are ...Download file to see next pagesRead More