Essay/Term paper: The jungle: the appeal of socialism

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Term Papers

The Jungle: The Appeal of Socialism


During the late 1800's and early 1900's hundreds of thousands of
European immigrants migrated to the United States of America. They had
aspirations of success, prosperity and their own conception of the American
Dream. The majority of the immigrants believed that their lives would
completely change for the better and the new world would bring nothing but
happiness. Advertisements that appeared in Europe offered a bright future and
economic stability to these naive and hopeful people. Jobs with excellent wages
and working conditions, prime safety, and other benefits seemed like a chance in
a lifetime to these struggling foreigners. Little did these people know that
what they would confront would be the complete antithesis of what they dreamed
of.
The enormous rush of European immigrants encountered a lack of jobs.
Those who were lucky enough to find employment wound up in factories, steel
mills, or in the meat packing industry. Jurgis Rudkus was one fo these
dissapointed immigrants. A sweeper in slaughter house, he experienced the
horrendous conditions which laborers encountered Along with these nightmarish
working conditions, they worked for nominal wages, inflexible and long hours, in
an atmosphere where worker safety had no persuasion. Early on, there was no one
for these immigrants to turn to, so many suffered immensely. Jurgis would later
learn of worker unions and other groups to support the labor force, but the
early years of his Americanized life were filled, with sliced fingers,
unemployment and overall a depressing and painful "new start".
Sinclair, has shown in a dramatic style the hardships and obastacles
which Jurgis and fellow workers had to endure. He made the workers sound so
helpless and the condtions so greusome, that the reader almost wants a way out
for Jurgis. Sinclair's The Jungle is a "subliminal" form of propaganda for
Socialism. At a time in our nations history where the rich were very wealthy,
and the poor were peniless, Sinclair's portrayal of socialism in regards to the
laborer is very appealing to a jobless, hungry, indigent man.
Sinclair's vision of socialism, wasn't as flawless and beneficial as it
seemed. Although it gave the workers some motivation to work as well as the
could it was an attempt to commonize the working class. The Marxist theory of
communism stemmed from the ideologies displayed by socialism. The masses of the
population were controlled by a small elite. Sinclair was a believer in
socialism, and Jurgis was a member of the party. But fortunately for today's
working force, the concept and potential threat of socialism was stifled before
it could make a permanent mark of American society.