Immigration or Socialism? Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

My research report is vastly different than what my proposal was at midterm.  Originally I was going to research what makes Mexican-Americans lean more toward immigrant or minority status.  Then, on my own, I read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, and was so interested that I decided to change my research report.  I first wanted to do some research on why Upton Sinclair focused his novel on an immigrant family.  I found that the main point of his novel was not worker’s rights or immigrants, but instead the furthering of his Socialist ideology.  As I was reading the book I would stop every so often and think about how this part was a stage of the immigrant narrative, so what I finally decided on was to look into how well Jurgis Rudkus, the main character, and his family fit into these stages. 

I quickly realized that the progression of the Rudkus family in the novel follows our immigrant narrative model quite well, with the small exception of the rediscovery of ethnic identity stage.  I could not find any evidence that this was Sinclair’s intention, but it fit in nicely either way.

            The first stage, leaving the old world, is present very early in the book.  The first chapter is the wedding of Jurgus and his wife Ona, which takes place in Chicago.  The second chapter, however, is a flashback to Lithuania.  This chapter is the background of Jurgis, Ona, the rest of the family, and how they all met and came to America.  As Ona would not leave her family, Jurgus decided to pack them all up and move to America.  They were excited about the trip as Sinclair writes, “In that country, rich or poor, a man was free, it was said…So America was a place with lovers and young people dreamed (Sinclair 27).”  Like a typical European immigrant, Rudkus and Ona’s family were excited about the opportunity that lay in front of them and very willingly left Lithuania for America.

Stage 2, the journey to the New World, is not discussed very much in the novel, but it does appear for a few paragraphs.  They run into the dominant American culture in a negative way during the trip in the form of people who are trying to take advantage of them for more money.  They know nothing of America, so they “clung to [their money] with such horrible fear (Sinclair 28).”  Despite a few bad experiences, they are not discouraged about America and arrive in Chicago ready to make a better life for themselves.

            The next stage, that of shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination is easily the most prevalent in the novel.  There are numerous examples of all of these things happening to all the members of Rudkus’ family.  After an ankle injury, Rudkus learns firsthand of the ruthless exploitation of workers in Chicago.  Ona is taken advantage of by a boss who has only to deny any charges to be believed before the Rudkus’ because he is not a member of the poorest working class.  The most harrowing image that Sinclair paints is the feelings Rudkus has when he is sent to jail.  Sinclair writes,

“They put him in a place where the snow could not beat in, where the cold could not eat through his bones; they brought him food and drink – why, in the name of heaven, if they must punish him, did they not put his family in jail and leave him outside – why could they find no better way to punish him than to leave three weak women and six helpless children to starve and freeze (Sinclair 160)?”

The conditions were so bad, so completely opposite of what he envisioned, that Rudkus’ longed for his family to be put in jail and his punishment to be having to live in Chicago slums.  And there are what seem to be endless more experiences like this that plague the Rudkus’ throughout their lives in Chicago.  As Socialism was the main point of Sinclair’s novel, he spent the majority if his time depicting exploitation and discrimination happening to the immigrant family.

            Eventually, Jurgis, and the members of his family who survive, begin to assimilate to the dominant culture.  Their assimilation, however, is not the standard immigrant assimilation.  They turn to crime and prostitution to live.  While this is not the ideal American life, they have realized that they must do whatever they can to make money, which is unfortunately the American way.  Near the end of the book, Jurgis finally shows some assimilation when he becomes involved in the Socialist movement among the American working poor.  Socialism is not at all the dominant culture of America; rather, Jurgis is assimilating by refusing to settle for his horrible conditions.  Howard Zinn said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  Just by rebelling against the discriminating norms of Chicago, Jurgis is assimilating to a fundamental American right.

            The final stage is rediscovering ethnic identity.  Again, as Sinclair’s main point for The Jungle was a Socialist novel as opposed to an immigrant novel, the book ended while Rudkus was in his assimilation-through-dissent stage,and had yet to rediscover his Lithuanian identity.

            Whether on purpose, or by accident, Upton Sinclair wrote a novel that fits perfectly into the stages of the immigrant narrative we have discussed in class.  It was slightly disappointing to find out that he had no direct immigrant issues in mind (only those that coincided with the Socialist movement), but nonetheless, he wrote a book that, if not for length, could quite easily be included in the reading list for this course.

Works Cited

Sinclair, Upton.  The Jungle.  New York:  Putnam, 1906.

“Upton Sinclair.”  The Literature Network.  2006.  27 April 2006.

            <http://www.online-literature.com/upton_sinclair/>

“Upton Sinclair.”  Wikipedia.  27 April 2006.  27 April 2006.

            < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair />

 [DG]