Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" Moves the Government
Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," gave the most in-depth discreption of the horrid
truths about the way America's food companies, "the only source of food for people
living in the city's," are preparing the food they sell. "The Jungle" describes the terrible
conditions of a Lithuanian family that moved to the US, and had to work, live, and die for
the food companies in Chicago. "The Jungle" spurred a movement in the American
people to do something about the problems facing the American food supply. Because of
the growing concern about the quality of food in America the government took action to
prevent further problems. Thus the Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed to fix the
problems. The Food and Drug Act was a true example of how the people of our nation
influenced the government to take action, to solve a growing problem effecting the
"The Jungle" talks about a couple who move to an area of Chicago, "known as
Packtown," from Lithuania. Packtown is the center of Chicago's meat packing industry. It
is a hard, dangerous, and filthy place where it is difficult to find a job. Some relatives of
the couple and themselves get a house, but find out it is a swindle. Expenses increase and
forces the children of the family to find work like the adults. Jobs in Packtown are
back-breaking , unsafe, and have no regard for individual workers. The oldest of the
family gets a job, but it is to difficult for the old man and he quickly dies. The man of the
couple, "Jurgis," is forced to work in an unheated packing house during the winter. Jurgis
is injured and cant work for three months receiving no pay. One of the children dies of
food poisoning. Jurgis joins a union and slowly begins to understand the way politics and
bribery that contro...