Socialism in
In, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, the main purpose behind the book is Sinclair's view that the common wage laborers of Chicago and the rest of the world would benefit from a shift from the capitalist society to his ideal system of socialism. Many of the conditions that Jurgis and his family go through are simply allegories to show that the "capitalist machine" takes in strong, hopeful workers and spits them out, broken and poor. Throughout the wild corruption and swindling, Sinclair argues that socialism would solve all of these problems. However, he fails to acknowledge or realize that human nature causes people to be this way and the capitalist society just allows them to take advantage of their nature to the fullest extent. The switch to socialism would not change the people's desire to get as much wealth as possible. There are plenty of instances in which Sinclair portrays the bad nature of people. Very shortly after they arrived in Chicago, the family has been taken advantage of by a crooked agent and his lawyer crony in their attempt to purchase a home. This corruption continues throughout the entire novel with events like the vote buying scandal that Jurgis first falls victim to and later embraces as a way for him
The situation between Ona and Phil Conner would have been avoided because he wouldn't have held any power over her and the fate of her family. The others would have to resolve to using nepotism and other corrupt methods of getting jobs. People like the housing agent and his lawyer friend would still be out there taking advantage of people. The workers would be working harder out of the desire to earn more money for themselves and the rest of their coworkers, not simply going as fast as they can out of fear of losing their job and leaving their family without food. Caring about the problems of each other could solve as many problems as socialism could. Many of Sinclair's portrayals of corruption and greed only serve to garner sympathy for Jurgis and his struggle. If each person treated every other person in the same way as Jurgis treated his family at the beginning of the novel, with concern and constantly looking out for their best interests, the whole society would be better off. There is also the drugging of Marija to force her to remain a prostitute and the raping of Ona by her boss. It would not help those people without jobs. One major problem that would not be solved by socialism is the overcrowding and the lack of jobs for every one. The profits of harder work would be going to the people who work the hardest and not to the bosses whose greatest asset is deciding who gets jobs and who gets fired. After losing their jobs, Jurgis and the rest of the family would have to wait in from of the offices of the bosses to get a job. People with jobs would benefit from higher wages and would have more job security but their job security would result in the loss of hope and the possibility of a quick fix.
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