One of the books I have taught for the past decade has been The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Every year I talk about how the book helped pass legislation dealing with food preparation. As a class we read tiny segments of it and some students find the segments quite gross. It is never fun to talk about rats falling into the sausage and nobody taking them out just before going to lunch.
John Green even said in his Crash Course video how it was the only book that ever made him throw up. So, I bought a copy years ago with the intention of reading it and pulling other pieces to be used in my classroom. For the past 7 years or so that book has sat on my shelf. Sometimes a student will ask if I have a copy as they are interested in reading it. Nobody does. One year a student asked if I had a copy, and she was excited when I finally brought it to her only to flip through it and toss it back down saying, “I thought it would have pictures.”
Well last month I finally got around to the book, and I was surprised at the actual content but not in a gross way.
The Storyline
The book follows Jurgis Rudkus and his family as they struggle to make it in Chicago. The characters had immigrated to the US from Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire). The historical fiction is based on what Upton Sinclair saw in 7 weeks of undercover work in the stockyards of Chicago in 1904. Originally the story was published as a novel in serial form by the newspaper Appeal to Reason in 1905. The next year it was published in book form by Doubleday.
Appeal to Reason was a newspaper published from 1895 to 1922 in the Midwest. By 1910 it had a circulation of half a million readers. This made it the largest socialist newspaper in circulation. Yes, after the socialist party was formed in 1901 the newspaper became a major voice for the movement.
Not knowing where the story was originally published led me to be fooled that the book was written (as many have stated) to help the workers in the Chicago stockyards and reform the meatpacking industry. But that was not Sinclair’s goal. Instead, it was a push to show why socialism was needed as he wrote about the capitalist businesses that took advantage of workers. Even Sinclair in 1906 stated in an interview with Cosmopolitan that, “I aimed for the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
The Aftermath
The book eventually led to the passing of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act forcing the meatpacking industry to change its tune and clean up its act. But the story is much deeper than that.
Sinclair used Jurgis’ family’s struggles to showcase how poor immigrants were being taken advantage of. The things that he went through are insane, but there were instances where what he went through really happened. At one point he lost his job because he gets hurt. Then lost another. Much of the story is Jurgis bouncing around from job to job and just trying to support his family. It followed his wife Ona and her trials through the times. Ona and her cousin both eventually fall into prostitution. Others became beggars. Some died. A house is lost, and Jurgis spent time in jail.
It really is quite a story of survival and ups and downs – mainly downs.
The last few chapters are about Jurgis getting into the social party and working toward spreading the word. This is where Sinclair hit home and really tried to get the readers to believe that this was the way for all of the working class. And many followed suit in real life, joining the movement as it was something that promised better times for the working class.
Thankful
This is a book that I think many of us should read. I finished it while sick on New Year’s Eve. I was having a rough week. Instead of visiting family for Christmas, I was home sick all while missing a free trip to Malaysia. But I caught a horrible cold that forced me to cancel. Instead, for over a week I didn’t leave the house during my Christmas break from work, was sad, and felt like crude. But I powered through the book, and it made me realize how great of a life I have.
I am extremely fortunate to have such a supportive and loving family, some of the greatest friends a guy could ask for, and a steady job that not only easily supports me but also gives me the opportunity to travel the world. So, as I sat there sad and sick reading about the issues Jurgis faced it made me realize I didn’t really have it that bad. Although Jurgis was a made-up character, people really did go through what he went through in the early 1900s. And because of that I have the benefit of many things like an 8-hour workday, insurance, and so much more.
Sometimes we just need to sit back and get a little perspective on our lives. That is what this book did for me, and it was much needed. We complain about a lot of things, but there are many out there that are hungry or looking for a home for the night each and every night. Me whining about my Wi-Fi going out at home really doesn’t register on the does-it-really-matter-meter.
So, this New Year I challenge you. Stop and think about something you are grateful for.
Next Read
What are you reading right now? My next book will be American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900 by H.W. Brands.
Why this book? I am working to prepare my lecture for my college class, and I want to add more to it when we discuss the Gilded Age. The Jungle has me more curious about the time and I want to read more about it. I added another Upton Sinclair book to my To Read List – it is simply called Oil. This book was turned into a great movie called There Will Be Blood. If you haven’t seen it, go watch it. Daniel Day-Lewis was amazing in the film. It won two Oscars including best actor.
I will be back with another post to share my thoughts on both books when I am done with them. My goal this year is to read 12 books. You can follow me on Goodreads if you have an account and see what I am reading and my thoughts on the books.