In a story that champions the cause of the working class, The Jungle tells of an immigrant working family who, despite all their efforts, descend into numbing poverty, moral degradation and social despair in the “urban jungle” of Chicago. Yet the novel does not end on a pessimistic note.
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle brought to the public eye the brutal exploitation of workers and the filthy, barbaric conditions of the Chicago stockyards in the early 20th century. The novel aroused public sentiment, resulting in federal regulations including the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
An ardent activist, novelist, progressive journalist and champion of political reform, Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) is best known for The Jungle which he dedicated “to the workingmen of America.” Read the World Socialist Web Site review of The Jungle.
