You don’t have to be a Sociologist to love Sociology. More so, you do not have to study Sociology every day to recognize and appreciate a Sociological Perspective. Students though, especially in the field of Sociology, are often left with the same examples of Sociology. They too infrequently brush up on the literary classics that both entertain with well-written story, and demonstrate examples of a commonly explored perspective. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is one such book that spans multiple genres and can be applicable to a variety of studies. For those of you, who haven’t read it, be sure to pick up a copy. Especially those readers who have little familiarity with Sociology can benefit from story which explains the expansion of America and the fight that many people faced who were new to these United States.

The Premise:

Having recently arrived in America, a family sets out to make a new life in Chicago. Being set around 1900, a family from Lithuania attempts to assimilate to America. The main character, Jurgis Rudkus, being a strong giant and determined to succeed, takes work in the fields that were possible at the time. Chicago was a heavily supported by slaughterhouse trade and Jurgis finds himself working mainly in grueling physical laborious fields. At the time in Chicago, the owning class worked newcomers to America nearly to death. The butchers, canners, cleaners etc. are constantly being overworked during busy times in terrible conditions and during slow times they were often turned out and were therefore impoverished and subject to poor living conditions.

The Jungle: Marxist Perspective

In The Jungle the workers are constantly being sped up and forced to work beyond their means. This led to an increase in production and capital for the owning class which is typical of the Bourgeoisie. The working Proletariat class that Jurgis and his family belong to are forced to try to work beyond their means. Not being part of a unions and being fearful of being replaced by the next newcomer who was willing to work for less, they had no choice but to take risks and subject themselves to unthinkable work conditions. Jurgis falls ill and with no options of unemployment, sick leave, etc. that are a comfort in today’s age due to the Labor Movement, his family is distraught, displaced and destroyed.

The Jungle: Vance Packard Perspective

Vance Packard often wrote about the power of the media and how persuasiveness can skew a persons beliefs, especially in the formation of America. In The Jungle we see how people in far lands, in this case Lithuania, perceive America as the Land of Opportunity without regard to the real work they would be doing when here. This is common of the new stages of Globalization. We also see how the Media and how Salesman tricked foreign immigrants by lying to them in ads regarding homes and how things were done legally. These people, knowing little English, were deceived in regards to whether their homes were new or remodeled, the terms of their mortgages and their legal recourse in any legal matter. Packard’s ideas of Modernization and Subliminal Messages can be seen throughout the propaganda being targets at immigrants.

Of course, you’ll have to read the novel to get the fill grasp of the severity of the conditions in which the Rudkus family lived. And sadly, they are just one tale of millions that saw the exploitation of workers here in the beginning of the United States. Students of Sociology and other Social Sciences can apply these subjects and many more ideologies to Sinclair’s The Jungle.

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What other theories do you think apply to the The Jungle? What are some other examples of Sociological Perspective in popular American Literature? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook, Reddit and Twitter!