... uses his writings to criticize society in many ways. One major aspect of society that he focuses on is immigration as well as the ignorance of the general population. Key quotes determine Sinclair's views on these topics. "So America was a place of which lovers and young people dreams. If one could only manage to get the price of a passage, he could ... pitiable in their helplessness; above all things they stood in deadly terror of any sort of person in official uniform, and so whenever they saw a policeman they would cross the street and hurry by." This quote proves in a whole how litt...

• Word Count: 473
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... or water. They sat in the cold many nights, starving and near death. His family was not the only family on the street, unable to pay their rent forced many other families in Chicago out of their homes. Jurgis's house in fact is built over a sewer and their property owner exploits them with rents they cannot afford. He continually changes how much ... ...

• Word Count: 1168
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... possessions when they arrived in Chicago. They are eager to buy a house and are quickly sold a "new" house when they have enough money for a down payment. Soon Jurgis and Ona find out that the "new" house that they were sold is in fact a very old house that has been there for years with many occupants. This shows how ... night they sleep on a door step of a home because they have no money buy a place to stay for the night or better yet buy a house. They soon buy a house in which they are swindled into thinking is new yet in reality is very old. They also find out that the ... house is ...

• Word Count: 1147
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... loneliness seized him." (190) After Ona's death, one could not anticipate anything more to go wrong, but it does. In just a short time later, Jurgis" son Antanas drowned in the street. It is extremely obvious that Sinclair is a Socialist himself. Anything and everything that could go wrong in the first three quarters of the book does, and once Jurgis is introduced ... ...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... everywhere. They would sing, organize, write, and speak their ideas of socialism. The IWW had many successful strikes. For example in Washington in 1909 an ordinance was passed to stop street meetings and any IWW would be arrested if they spoke out. Many did and many were arrested. They continued to speak until 600 IWW men were arrested. When news of ... ...

• Word Count: 1134
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... to work for weeks on end and eventually causing the loss of his job completely. Death in the family, the poor living conditions of their "rental" home, countless hidden charges, street life and little schooling for Teta Elzbieta's children, rape, and alcoholism plagued the family. Eventually, the family fell apart and all was lost. Jurgis disappears and gets into legal trouble ... ...

• Word Count: 552
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , who came with him to America. After many of the family of twelve is able to get jobs in the meat packing industry in Chicago, they are tricked into buying a house but it turns out to be a swindle; the agreement is full of hidden costs. Jurgi's salary is very important to the family due to the increase of the family's living ... accident instead of looking at the real problem; the dangerous working conditions they provided. Like many families at that time, Jugi's family struggled to collect the monthly payments for the house, buy food for the family or have any savings. The fact that th...

• Word Count: 918
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... dead cattle that are unfit to eat. As winter comes things become even harsher. Antanes, Jurgis" father, dies in a cold cellar. Jurgis is forced to work in an unheated packing house. Because of bad weather, work is shorter hours and less pay. This is the time when Jurgis realizes that possibly by joining a union things could change for the better. He ... could his life in jail be better than the life of his family which has freedom? After being released from jail he finds that his family did indeed lose the house. He finds his wife in labor and finally finds a mid-wife to deliver the bab...

• Word Count: 1116
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... be able to survive with everyone working and the Rudkus family almost does. Sinclair's main character Jurgis is one of the men working in the slaughter yard at the meat house. He describes the horrors of working there with blood all over everyone all of the time and if a cow or pig would happen to get loose how they could trample ... what occurred in the early 1900's to the immigrants who needed to find homes and or jobs to survive and how either low pay at their job or when buying a house as the characters were tricked people always cheated them. Upton Sinclair also painted a vivid ima...

• Word Count: 824
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... find everything but that. They were naive in most situations therefore were an easy target to take advantage of. For example, when Jurgis and his family went to buy their house they were told it would only be $12 a month for six years. However, when presented with the bill for the first payment the price was more then $12 because they ... pay a monthly interest amount of $7 on top of the $12. Even with the combined earnings of everyone in the family it wasn't enough. Soon they could no longer afford the house and were evicted. Like a chain reaction, immigrants had to find ways to surviv...

• Word Count: 953
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... suddenly realized it was not what they expected. Every worked who was recently arrive found a job without a problem. When workers could not afford a home they could live in overcrowded boarding house, where they just slept. When workers were able to afford their own home and bought it they didn't realized they were many hidden charges in the ... house-buying plan and they were left with less income.. In the factories working conditions were terrible, unsanitary buildings, working for nominal wage , long and exhausting hours of work. If workers ... ...

• Word Count: 544
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... 1935. Because of her hard work she got recognized internationally and won the Nobel Peace Prize. Also, she established the settlement house, community centers in poor neighborhood that provided education, recreation, and other services. She and Ellen Gates Starr established Hull House mission that was to provide a center for a higher civic and social life and to investigate and improve the conditions in ... ...

• Word Count: 532
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... was talking with you you could hardly be so ungrateful to notice that a dozen carcasses were passing him untouched."# This obviously led to tubercular meat being processed in the packing house. Another problem was the incredible lack of sanitation and the use of spoiled meat, another quote from "The Jungle" tells of how dirty it was in these plants "There would ... ...

• Word Count: 971
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... going to have money coming in continuously, Jurgis and Ona get married and the entire family scrapes up what little money they have and sign an agreement to buy a tiny house. What they didn't know, the agreement actually had hidden costs and was cheaply made. To keep up with all the payments, every family member has to get a job. Jurgis's old ... ...

• Word Count: 592
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... cutback on spending on amenities for employees. Due to this, many workers got physically injured or sick. Consequently, the worker loses his job. But that's not a problem for the packing house, there are hundreds begging to replace him on the front step. Meaning, once the worker is healthy, chances are he had already been replaced. In addition to the loss of ... ...

• Word Count: 1101
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... in corrupt activity with her boss in order to keep her job. Unsanitary housing and real estate fraud are brought out as well, when Jurgis' family obtains a deteriorating dwelling for a house that they must pay an obscene amount of money to keep. Graft was relevent when we witnessed the police and other authority figures being payed off by bartenders in fear ... ...

• Word Count: 756
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... "from top to bottom it was nothing but one gigantic lie" (82). Sometimes Jurgis had his hours cut dramatically without warning, and his wages would then plummet. An agent sold a house that was old and decrepit to Jurgis's family, having them sign a contract that they did not understand. The agent made no mention of interest on the amount owing for the ... ...

• Word Count: 1214
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School