The Jungle

The novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, focuses on the Progressive Movement in the United States in a journey through the life of the main character Jurgis Rudkus who came America from Lithuania in search of the American Dream of freedom and fortune. After arriving in America, Jurgis and Ona go to Packingtown, an area of Chicago, to find work. Once at Jurgis begins work, he is quickly subjected to horrible working conditions and very …

…to investigations after The Jungle was published. This book exposed the public to the behind the scenes actions that took place at the meat packing facilities in Chicago. This created a public outcry, and investigations into the Beef Trust, which eventually brought upon and end to this once powerful entity. Upton Sinclair’s insight and experience that he put into The Jungle was extremely significant and helped to bring about a great deal of change.