Marxist Critique of Upton Sinclair's - Research Paper Example

? The Jungle An ardent critic of the hitches of capitalism, and the powerful system to a safe prospect as socialism, the widely criticized book by a renowned journalist, Upton Sinclair, deals with the problems of the immigrants in America during 20th century. It made a jerk in the American society due the horrifying explanations, which come close to the reality, that exposes the corruption subsisted in the meatpacking industry along with the poverty and health conditions of the laborers in the industry. According to Harris the consummation of meat products went down drastically after the publication of the novel, that paved the way to the passage of 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. The debased living and working conditions led to despondency subsided by corruption and misuse of power. Sinclair’s intention was to delineate the defects of the prevailing system of American wage along with that of capitalism. The struggling of human kind in the then social and economic system is well drawn by the writer through the life some Lithuanian immigrants. They believed that who are able to work can make a living and hold his family well. The readers are forced to think that the purpose of Sinclair was to put into words the deception of the socialist or Marxist ideology. Jurgis and his family come to America in the midst of Industrial revolution. The party conducted by Jurgis and Ona is an example of the equality that prevailed in the system of Lithuanians. It characterized by the Lithuanian culture and the mundane life of the immigrants. But the hidden side of the prevailing system is slowly revealed that they are left with some dollars debt after the party . Jurgis is so confident in his health and might that he finds a job in the Packing town. The place is known for its unhygienic conditions. It only helped to ruin their health. Wilson says “Sinclair presented his case not just in terms of exploitation but in metaphors of declension of corruption and infestation : the worker’s degradation seems , in fact, to stem from the poisonous world they inhabit “There seems to be no difference between the cattle’s and hogs slaughtered and the human being who pack their meat. In Sinclair’s words “Relentless, remorseless, it was; all his protests, his screams, were nothing to it – it did its cruel will with him, as if his wishes, his feelings had simply no existence at all; it cut his throat, and watched him gasp out his life”. It was really the plight of the workers that the novelist was elucidating. Leonard says “The Jungle deplores dishonesty and cruelty in the industrial plants that victimize his sympathetic characters ..but it does not challenge the legitimacy of industrial production as a foundation of modern world “ . Yes Packingtown was a jungle where there are animals and humans treated as animals. . Even the mild parts of human and animal are used equally without hesitation. Jurgis noticed pregnant cows classified as unfit for processing by the government were also brought to the slaughter house and easily made meat. The horrific scene that the fetus of these cows are taken and made into small pieces and kept along with others to process as meat. The work rooms at the meatpacking industry are another place where there is no discrepancy between the human and the flesh of the animals. The industrialists never took action to keep the rooms heated in the winter season. The workers frequently suffered frostbite and they exposed their frozen feet into the steam where the carcasses of the cattle are kept. The room was suffocating with thick steams and most for them caught several kinds of disease which they themselves are powerless to recognize. The thick blood of the animals on the floor also caused several difficulties like minor injuries due to slipping. It was mentioned about the payments that they were not paid for the “broken time “ie, the payment was for completing an hour’s work if they brake due to no further work they never get a penny for the whole work . Their residence, if it can be called, was nasty.”There they encountered noise, strong reek dirt and pollution which constantly accompanied them because of the close distance to the meat packing industry.” These are examples of unfair labor practices of the time. Jurgis and family are taunted by the so called authority even for minute things. They themselves make laws. They themselves give the punishments. Another example of exploitation of the consumer is explains through the incident of their renting a house. According to Sinclair “Jurgis could not hear it often enough; he could not ask with enough variations. Yes, they had bought the house, they had really bought it. It belonged to them, they had only to pay the money and it would be all right. Then Jurgis covered his face with his hands, for there were tears in his eyes, and he felt like a fool. But he had had such a horrible fright; strong man as he was, it left him almost too weak to stand up “ Harold Bloom says “ Sinclair presented powerful characters who would overcome the mighty obstacles and emerge victorious ..What happened to Jurgis would happen to any worker under the system" The elementary moral idea of American dream is not succeeding in the life all the immigrants due to the suppression of capitalist movement. It never allows the workers to work hard in hope, but indirectly making them move away from the right path to save themselves. Sinclair says “So from to bottom the place is simply a seething cauldron of jealousies and hatreds; there is no loyalty and decency anywhere about it, there is no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar”. When Jurgis was wounded and was forced to stay at home Jurgis slowly recognizes painfully how unfavorable the conditions in that place. Al Gini says “ he jobs in stockyards were designed to be performed by unskilled laborers, only strength and speed separated the highest paying from the lowest paying jobs “ . The slow realization that hard works are not rewarded in the capitalist society, and instead of that corruption existed there is painful and unfavorable to him. . Ona is another victim of the system who should be talked about .. Sinclair describes “ Here was a population ,low –class and mostly foreign , hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependant for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old time slave drivers; under such circumstances immortality was exactly as inevitable and prevalent “.How morally tarnished the employers of the place, is shown by the plight of his wife who was raped by her boss. Most of the immigrants had to fight with crime and punishment. That seemed to be the destiny of all who selected America as their heaven on earth. Along with all these difficulties, the unfavorable climate also acts as rivals to them. They were working under unsafe conditions mostly. The demand of hard labor was unbearable to the common workers. For each instances every men are trying to squeeze and extract others. Sinclair consciously uses the title Jungle to show the Capitalist attitude of the so called bosses. The immigrants are made noiseless that they do not even respond to the authority. Here it should be stressed that the politicians and businessmen were benefitted more from the attitude. The hero is able to work, he will work, but he cannot work. Sinclair was always repulsed by the exploitation of the working class and the economic inequality existed due the system. Jurgis even if thinks to work hard, sometimes wish to spend time with his new born, but is not expected to do, because he has to submit fully to the work. The scene where Jurgis compels his son to work is highly pathetic and shows the extreme poverty that pulls even the minors to the way of work. Sinclair makes efforts to compare the human with animals to expose the tediousness of the life in Packing Town. All the actions are weighed against that of animals. Sinclair says “Jurgis lifted up his head and began to sniff the air like a startled animal-scenting the far-off odor of home “. There is a conscious attempt from that pat of the novelist to turn the human character to animals in order to expose how intense situation was. Harris says “Upton describes the nauseating details of the place endlessly.” The hogs that arrived dead of cholera and tubercular steers were processed and sold for human consummation “ The Stanislovas who only thirteen, is unwilling to work in the sever winter climate. He even goes to the factory on the shoulder of Jurgis . Being a child to work in such cold weather and remain there without food was heartbreaking to him. Most of the children in the house are diseased. Deaths were very common during that in the streets of Packingtown. But there was great queue to fill the vacant position. The plight Antanas is also appalling. At this old age he works for the family, but due to severe cold he also stats coughing. The constant exposure to chemicals destroys his boots and thus his feet. Even though his mind is willing to work in such terrifying condition, his body never accepts his mind. He falls down one day and finally dies. The family is in trouble to find money for his funeral. The plight of the laborers here described parallels with that of the animals brought for meat. The dilapidation is high that the people are forced to succeed, most of the time this never happens, or they negotiate whole that they have even their moral principles. They are forced to move beyond of their opportunity exactly like the ill-fated animals. The Packingtown stands for the corrupted business world along with the government system which always stimulates the putrid American capitalism. Child labor prevention is on the paper. There are no specific laws for preventing abuses of labors. To satisfy the necessities of daily life the children are doing any types of job. The sacrifice for endurance is high and throughout the novel Sinclair delineates it. Though Stanislovas, the novelist presents the shortcomings of capitalism once again. It is to be noted that even the spring time brings no joy to the inhabitants of the place. The attack of flies due to the blood and meat is intolerable. Marija loses her job only because she asks about the cheating in the wages. Ona is also at risk because all the prostitutes are getting more good jobs and she is a decently married. But after giving birth to a baby she also deteriorates in her health. All the miseries push Jurgis on frustration that he showers all on his family. Being unable to work there he joins in a fertilizer mill. Now he himself becomes manure. All the description about job and the human being lead the readers to think that Sinclair portrays ‘Social Darwinism. Always there was prejudice against immigrants, the existing racism, the power of the native and mediocre attitude to workers, all adds to the physical suffering of the people there. We are convinced that the family is losing the game for survival in the new place. Now they consider even the existence as a success. While portraying the character Jurgis , Sinclair presents him as healthy , muscular and enough to compete with the others . But after getting a job there he was slowly consumed by the existing unlawful working conditions and unhealthy atmosphere. Sinclair presents the destructive side of capitalism. After a week, leaving the new born at home Ona goes to work. Even a death in family brings no sadness because, it benefits in some way to the family. A child takes the place of a consumer, not a producer. The consumerist mentality is a product of the new life as immigrants in the new place. Everything is new, new place, new type of job, new labor system, new calculations and new attitude. Human relations and bonds break down. Sympathy and love is taken away by need of continued existence. Jonas’s disappearance, Jurgis’s cruel treatment of Stanislovas etc is examples of this frame of mind. In short human beings are treated as animals exactly like in a jungle, the powerful survive, the powerless consumed. Now nobody can say that Jugis’s is family, but a collection of individuals. The section in which Sinclair tells the horrible business of meat industry is striking with its appropriate pictures. How sausages are made out of spoiled meat, the selling of contaminated meat for house hold purpose etc are horrible. “The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one- there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit . There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage. …. after cartload of it would be taken up and dumped into the hoppers with fresh meat, and set out to the public breakfast.” The working members of the family also are under the grip of several diseases. Jurgi’s starts drinking. The two couples go apart. Their small one Antanas also suffers due to eating polluted meat. The plight of Ona who suffers more than anyone is upsetting. She is forced to explain that she is raped by her boss Phill Connon, and is threatened not to reveal this for keeping the job of all the household members. Sinclair says “This was something that commonly happened to female workers in the yards. Often they ended up as prostitutes.” Jurgis in turn attacks Phill severely and he is put into jail for this. Sinclair compare him to “wounded bull ‘and a ‘tiger’. The picture of Jugis with full blood in his mouth really shows the unrefined animal behavior which is actually injected to them though the prevailing system. He is sentenced for three months and three hundred dollars . He laments on the plight of his family and that of his Ona. The novelist mercilessly allows his character to suffer only. Thus human are once again effectively compared to animals which are slaughtered in the industry. The judgment against Jurgis is another example of corruption in the authority. The Judge himself cannot set apart the suffering of a family and starvation. Thus Sinclair gives the strong symptoms of complete ruin of the family. Sinclair succeeds in stressing the fact that the American dream was failure for all the immigrants and exploitation and corruption only persisted there. The laborers, who inhabited the ‘Jungle ‘are totally ruined by the external forces like Capitalism . The misfortunes continue for Jurgis family. He loses his house. He gets a comparatively good job in another factory, but it closes after some months. The natives are more conscious about their culture which may be spoiled by the intervention of large number of immigrants. So getting a hopeful life in the place is hard and even not possible. Sinclair once again proves that the existing system of capitalism never allows the working class to flourish in the place. To make matters worse Antanas drawn in the muddy streets. It is thus clear that the efforts of individuals to survive in the system are not valid. The tragedy of his son makes Jurgis so emptied that he leaves the place after seeing the dead body. The piles of tragedies in his life drains the emotional senses and he even could not cry. The powerful, moral, loyal Jurgis turns to a beast which never cries in losses. Unconsciously he becomes violent and avoids all social principles. He never poses the emotional power to think about all the other children in the family. Sinclair presents the lavish luxurious life of Freddie who never does anything, in contrast with that of Jurgis who spent all his power for working. The readers along with Jugis are forced to think about socialism and equal distribution of wealth. His doorway to the underworld where there is dishonesty and thievery, is described more comfortable and economic, which is totally against American values. Jurgis is economically safe by robbery and other unlawful means. The system provides him with all he wants except his family life, thus he cares only about himself and can easily avoid all others, exactly like how he was treated at the earlier time. He sees Phill Connon; the tint of love towards Ona makes him attack Phill again and goes to prison. The moral squalor of the capitalism is once again uplifted by Sinclair. Towards the end of the novel we see Jurgis again meets Marija from whom he comes to know about Stanislovas who is no more now. She explains “he fell asleep in the store room of an oil factory and a swarm of rats attacked him and killed him “. Jurgis again finds something that belongs to him in the current world. Once again he passes through the same pain of loss. Majira entering prostitution is another comparison in which the system pricing even the human flesh likes that of animal flesh. So far as they can satisfy others, human life is valid. The selling of flesh, whether it is that of human or animal is the essential process of the system which never values life. Thus the human beings are reduced to animals that are never expected to have their own personality, emotions, wishes and also values. Finally Jurgis enters meetings of socialism, which gives him new hope. He finds that he is more secure here. Thus Sinclair reaches the sole purpose of his novel, to bring socialism as solution for all the defects of capitalism. Now Sinclair presents the argument for socialism by introducing new characters. The growing recognition that the American Dream is a mere dream only is the most painful thing for Jugis and Ona. Amidst all the difficulties they try to endure all the misfortunes and great losses only in the hope of meeting their dream of success. To analyze the defected system of Capitalism and reach the actual goal of delineating the advantages of socialism Sinclair goes far beyond the reader’s imagination. The human characters are treated merely as animals or below them. The selection of a place where meat is packed and distributed is conscious and apt go deep into the unsolved crisis of capitalism. The degradation of Jurgis family is highly pathetic and even the readers, who do not know anything about socialism will start cursing the present political and economic system. The slaughter house and the animals are equaled with the large number immigrants and the flesh value of them in the system. Exactly like the butchery of animals the immigrants and their generations are disfigured and ruined by the prevailing system. Through the use of symbols like ‘rotten meat’ and ‘cans ‘the novelist exposes the corruption subsisted. Exactly like that of American Dream which is high when think but low when experience, the cans are polished and attractive but contains contaminated meat. Packing town is called a Jungle where all the weak and diseased are preyed by powerful. The transformation of Jurgis from a hopeful strong healthy immigrant into a beast in the Jungle of Packingtown is a slow process. The going back to another system which supplies with more enthusiasm and expectations is also a journey which is going to experience. If it is the hardships and slavery that make the human to animals, it is the anticipation about the coming system that helps him to regain the once lost emotional sense. Thus through the depiction of the wretched collapse of a Lithuanian immigrant family Sinclair passes on the need of turning to socialism instead of the corrupted Capitalism. Work Cited Sinclair , Upton, The Jungle , Doubleday Jabber Company, U S A , 1906 Haris , Leon. Upton Sinclair: American Rebel. New York:Thomas Y. Crowell, 1975 Wilson, Christopher P.”Would-Be-Singer: Upton Sinclair”Contemporary Literary Criticism.Ed. Roger Matuz. Detroit: Gale, 1991 Leonard, Cassuto, The Cambridge History of American Novel ,2011 Bloom , Harold “Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle ,2002 Gini , Al . My Job, My Self: work and creation of the modern individual ,2001 Read More