In the same way, American capitalism presents an attractive face to immigrants, but the America that they find is rotten and corrupt. The title of the novel draws attention specifically to the doctrine of Social Darwinism, an idea used by some nineteenth-century thinkers to justify the abuses of wealthy capitalists.
This idea essentially held that society was designed to reward the strongest, best people, while inferior people were kept down at a suitable level. The two men, it turned out, did not get along particularly well. But because Roosevelt distrusted its close ties to the meatpacking industry, he secretly instructed Labor Commissioner Charles P. Neill and social worker James B.
Reynolds to likewise take a look. In addition to prohibiting mislabeled and adulterated food products, these two laws paved the way for all future consumer protection legislation. At its peak, the colony had several dozen members, who, by sharing the cooking, housekeeping, and childcare duties, hoped to maximize their time for intellectual pursuits.
After that, Sinclair drifted from place to place for almost a decade until finally settling in California, where he would spend the majority of the rest of his life. The commissioners recommended that inspections take place at every stage of the processing of meat. They also called for the secretary of agriculture to make rules requiring the "cleanliness and wholesomeness of animal products.
President Roosevelt called the conditions revealed in the special commission's report "revolting. Roosevelt overcame meat-packer opposition and pushed through the Meat Inspection Act of The law authorized inspectors from the U. Department of Agriculture to stop any bad or mislabeled meat from entering interstate and foreign commerce.
This law greatly expanded federal government regulation of private enterprise. The meat packers, however, won a provision in the law requiring federal government rather than the companies to pay for the inspection. Sinclair did not like the law's regulation approach. True to his socialist convictions, he preferred meat-packing plants to be publicly owned and operated by cities, as was commonly the case in Europe. Passage of the Meat Inspection Act opened the way for Congress to approve a long-blocked law to regulate the sale of most other foods and drugs.
For over 20 years, Harvey W. Wiley, chief chemist at the Department of Agriculture, had led a "pure food crusade. The uproar over The Jungle revived Wiley's lobbying efforts in Congress for federal food and drug regulation.
Roosevelt signed a law regulating foods and drugs on June 30, , the same day he signed the Meat Inspection Act. The Pure Food and Drug Act regulated food additives and prohibited misleading labeling of food and drugs.
The two laws ended up increasing consumer confidence in the food and drugs they purchased, which benefitted these businesses. The laws also acted as a wedge to expand federal regulation of other industries, one of the strategies to control big business pursued by the progressives.
The Jungle made Upton Sinclair rich and famous. He started a socialist colony in a room mansion in New Jersey, but the building burned down after a year.
In , his wife ran off with a poet. He divorced her, but soon he remarried and moved to California. During his long life, he wrote more than 90 novels. King Coal was based on the massacre of striking miners and their families in Colorado. Boston was about the highly publicized case of Sacco and Vancetti, two anarchists tried and executed for bank robbery and murder in the s. None of these novels, however, achieved the success of The Jungle. Several of Sinclair's books were made into movies.
In , Hollywood released a movie version of The Jungle. Recently, his work Oil! During the Great Depression, Sinclair entered electoral politics. He ran for governor of California as a socialist in and as a Democrat in In the election, he promoted a program he called "End Poverty in California. The Republican incumbent governor, Frank Merriam, defeated him, but Sinclair still won over , votes 44 percent.
After the death of his second wife in , Sinclair moved to New Jersey to be with his son. He died there in at age People still read The Jungle for its realistic picture of conditions in the meat-packing industry at the turn of the 20th century. Why did the existing inspection system fail to guard the safety of meat for human consumption? Why was Upton Sinclair dismayed about the public reaction and legislation that followed publication of The Jungle? Mattson, Kevin.
Upton Sinclair and the Other American Century. Hoboken, N. Phelps, Christopher, ed. What is their first impression of Packingtown? Chapter III Before they begin work, the family tours one of the packing plants and is amazed at the activity and apparent efficiency. What process does the family observe on their tour? What characteristics of Durham and company impress the family?
The adults find work and the family decides to invest in a house. However, they discover that the details of the purchase are not what they expected. Which members of the family went to work? Why did Jurgis refuse to allow Ona and the children to work? Why are the prospects for work for Dede Antanas poor? Why does the family decide to buy a house?
What concerns Teta Elzbieta at the signing of the papers? How is that concern reconciled? Chapter V As the family members become more accustomed to Packingtown, they begin to discover the corruption underlying the system. What new need arises once the house is purchased? Why is Jurgis dismayed to discover that most of the workers hate their situation? Why does Jurgis initially refuse to join the union? How does Dede Antanas get work? What is his job?
What unpleasant truths do the working members of the family begin to discover about their work places? Chapter VI In Chapter Six the family discovers that they must pay interest on their purchase, which almost doubles the monthly payment. This need requires that more members of the family go to work. Why had Jurgis and Ona been forced to wait to be married?
What two horrible truths do they learn about their house? What political philosophy does Grandmother Majauszkiene support?
What does she predict will happen? Why do the owners keep bringing in new immigrant workers? How does the family raise the money for the monthly interest? Dede Antanas dies from the poor working and living conditions. What unknown hazards account for the poor health of the children? How does old Antanas die? Why is his death a double tragedy to the family?
What incident at work makes Stanislovas fear the cold and snow? What moral pitfalls plagued the working men? What saved Jurgis from these threats? However, loss of work and the financial needs of the family force her to postpone her plans. Who was the target of her affections? What tragedy puts a stop to her plans? Why does Jurgis decide to join a union? Chapter IX Jurgis becomes more and more involved in the union. Through the union, he gets his first exposure to the American political system.
Why did Jurgis decide to study English? How did union membership introduce Jurgis to American politics? Who was Mike Scully? How did the Chicago political machine work? What corruption were the packers involved in? Chapter X More tragedy befalls the family in the form of taxes, insurance, and sewer fees.
Marija and Ona both struggle with their work situations. Ona gives birth to a son, but remains in poor health after the birth. What unforeseen expenses were associated with the house? Why did Marija lose her job?
How does she find another one? What were the threats to a decent girl like Ona? What problems does Ona have after the birth of the baby? Chapter XI Jurgis suffers a serious accident at work and is unable to work for weeks. Without his pay, the family comes closer to financial ruin. What threat does the winter blizzard hold? What accident befalls Jurgis? Chapter XII Jurgis tries to return to work too soon and is reinjured.
When he finally recovers, he discovers that his job has been given to someone else. He begins the long difficult task of finding another job. Meanwhile, Jonas disappears; the family never learns his fate.
What happens when Jurgis tries to go back to work? What happens to Jonas while Jurgis is incapacitated? What decision is the family forced to make? Why is Jurgis unable to find another job easily? Jurgis finally gets a job at the fertilizer plant, the worse job in Packingtown. What crisis arises with the death of little Kristoforas?
Where does Jurgis finally find work? Why is this job considered the lowest labor in Packingtown? Why does Elzbieta go to work? Where and under what conditions does she work? Chapter XIV In Chapter Fourteen, the adults realize that they will never be able to make enough money to finally own the house.
This realization does not change anything; however, because they can only continue to work and try to pay the bills. Ona begins to suffer from apparent depression. What sorts of things went into the sausage? How have Jurgis, Ona, and Elzbieta changed since coming to Chicago? What horrible realization do the adults reach?
What vice has Jurgis discovered? What is his only defense? What does he secretly wish? What effect does her second pregnancy seem to have on Ona? Jurgis discovers that Ona has been forced into a sexual relationship with her boss. He assaults the man and is arrested.
0コメント