The Jungle
The progressive era, being known for reform of political corruption, health laws, and labor laws all came with the suffering of thousands. Many of these reforms were at the torment of the immigrants that came to America in search of a better life. In "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair, we are brought to the pain and distress of the progressive era through Jurgis and his family. Through this family we are taken to Packingtown in Chicago to view the effects of progressivism on the nations industries and immigrant families. In Sinclair's, "The Jungle" we are shown the progressive era's effects on immigrants and their families which lead to the creation of many laws we have today. Immigrant families came to America in search of new opportunities through the idea that America was a place to prosper-possibly become wealthy-and provide a better life for their families. "It was Jonas who suggested that they all go to America, where a friend of his had gotten rich. He would work for his part, and the women would work, and some of the children, doubtless- they would live somehow."(Sinclair 22) Every Immigrant who came to America believed that America was the land of opportunity. Between the years nineteen hundred and
The business controlled the economy and through social Darwinism or "survival of the fittest" the only people making any money were the business owners. Sinclair often refers to his trust in socialism and dislike of capitalism as a way of lowering the impact of social Darwinism and bring the economy back to the government and the government back to the people. The FIC not only helped out the women at the turn of the century but also made the lives of many children better. They were jobs that required little skill and much more focused on stamina. "(Sinclair 107) In The Jungle, Ona becomes pregnant and does return to work only a week, leaving her with a fragile body that has not completely healed. Fertilizer plants were unsafe with many of the workers possibly falling into the machines and would end up themselves part of the fertilizer. Along with taking care of children women would work in sewing factories for a small six to seven dollar weekly wage for the same amount of hours that a man would work. She loses her job and goes into the last resort of prostitution which many of progressive ladies resorted to in order to beat the capitalistic society that they thought their dreams were made of. Through the fighting and suffering of the early century immigrants of the progressive era we now have many laws and regulations that we all take for granted today. These backbreaking jobs were tough and did not let up. The result of the women suffrage and forced prostitution in the early nineteen hundreds led to the creation of the New York State Factory Investigation Commission (FIC) setting the standard for factories to limit hours that women could work in the factories and make safer working conditions. Capitalism was the way the businesses worked in which the companies would reap all of the profits while only paying the workers the bare minimum. When Sinclair wrote The Jungle, he said that he was writing the novel to touch the American heart but in society actually reading his novel he hit their stomachs more than anything. True getting jobs were not impossible but for Immigrants these jobs that they were able to acquire were not great jobs.
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Acceptance Essays
