The Communist Manifesto and The Jungle
In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair uses a true to life story to demonstrate the working man's life during industrialization. Marx depicts in the Communist Manifesto an explanation of why the proletariat is worked so hard for the benefit of the bourgeois, and how they will inevitably rise up from it and move to a life of communism. When The Jungle and the Communist Manifesto were written, the proletariat, or working class, was a commodity of commerce. Like their brothers, they subjected to competition and all of the quick and sudden changes of the market.Before the industrialization movement began, there was more of a blend between the classes, and now there is a distinct separation between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Because of the industrialization of the countries, the replacement of manual labor with the use of machinery and the division of labor, the work of the proletarian has become homogeneous. It does not contain the individuality or charm of the laborer as handmade goods do. The worker instead becomes part of the machine and is reduced to performing menial, repetitive tasks. Thus, the workman's pay rate reflects his work, and is reduced to minimum amount needed to barely sustain them. Therefore, as the skill needed
" There were men each to do one aspect of the preparing; one swing of the knife, one monotonous movement, until the process was complete. One man hooked the hogs to a giant chain, another would quickly slit the pigs' throat. This drudgery of the proletariat is mirrored in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. In chapter 3, Sinclair depicts the workings of a normal packing factory. There were jobs in the factories, like sewing covers onto hams and working lard-canning machines, that women and children excelled at, and factory owners would hire women and children before others for them. Marija got a job skimming fat off pieces of beef because she was "as strong as a man. " As Jurgis realized the cost of everything the family needed to pay was more than the wage earners were making, he gave in and allowed Ona and little Stanislovas to go to work as well. this was called 'speeding up the gang,' and if any man could not keep up with the pace, there were hundreds outside begging to try. The children are also worked just the same as any man. The factories continually overworked the laborers in their factories. The landlord, the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker, and others of the like, all of them try to take advantage of the workers by raising the price of the basic necessities. Modern industry has replaced the privately owned workshop with the corporate factory. " She was paid less the men doing the same job, but it still paid more than her previous job. In other words, the more industry becomes industrialized or developed, or the less physical or mental skills a laborer needs to complete their task, the easier it is for women and to move up into equal or higher positions than that of men.
Common topics in this essay:
Communist Manifesto,
Sinclair's Jungle,
Upton Sinclair,
Marx Engles,
women children,
pay rate,
communist manifesto,
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