The Jungle by Upton Sinclaire :: Essays Papers

The Jungle by Upton Sinclaire We can only know things with an experience for them by some means or other. We all know what we do, and we do not know what will happen. Our educated guesses failing at times and being glorified for justification's sake later. The family in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle depicts just this by every fiber of their hard working being. The qualities above present a perfected formula for real freedom. The gaining of knowledge and the failing or success that will happen to us. We can plan all we want, but freedom comes only to those who plan the luckiest. Take Jurgis (pronounced Yergis) for example. The strongest of the strong men in the world. He could stop a locomotive and beat John Henry in a fistfight. And why is this? He is strong, and his spirit is unconquerable. He'll just work harder if you give him more work. And what a commodity for his employers! Ever to continue along the drooling style of action, ever in the opposition of mother nature, and ever driven by the idea that he will be supporting his beloved family. To live a life in the youth of the 1900's, and in America, was the dream of so many people. To escape their tyrannical lands, the places their forefathers called home, to live in a place where it was known that every man was free and able to do his own thing, so long as he didn't hurt another. Free will, and no one could stop him for doing it. It would seem that a hard worker could go real far. In this time period such hopes were wasted on capitalism. The shammy American dream struck all those who sought to take residence in its comforting nest, and then thrust them out like so many chicks to learn to fly on their own in a harsh and unforgiving world. No man, on any account of strength could survive and live this dream, unless he was dishonest. Jurgis was an honest man, and so was his family of Lithuanians. Working harder every day for the same scraps of so many men. The work came, and only because Jurgis could prove his strength. 'Job' was the only word he really knew when coming to the stockyards, and so it was his nervous energy that made him get a job. Any discussion of The