The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

    In one of the great traditions of writing, Upton Sinclair wrote this piece of "fiction" in response to what he saw as the plight of the workers in the meatpacking industry. Through this book he brought about social change, opening the public's eyes to a deadly situation both for the workers and themselves. Though many agree that the public was more moved by the unsanitary packing conditions of the meat they were eating, Sinclair still achieved his goal of having safety standards set up for the workers in these factories, as well as the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. You have to keep this in mind while reading the book, because it is one of the most depressing books I've read in awhile.

    The story starts out with a wedding reception in Chicago for new immigrants Jurgis and Ona. At the end they find out that unlike in their country where everyone that comes to the reception leaves money to pay for it, in America the holders pay for it and they owe the bartender a good deal of money. Jurgis agrees to pay it back and sets out to find a job. He finds out his job won't pay all the bills and so practically everyone they know gets a job to help pay. This means Ona's cousin Marija, her step-uncle Jonas and Jurgis are all working in packingtown, so they decide to get a house. They find one but the contract is loaded with extra fees, so they get taken for a ride for a crappy house, and Ona and one of the kids, Stanislovas has to get a job too. Jurgis' dad, Dede, gets a job too, but he has to agree to pay another guy a part of his paycheck for helping him get the job, but its too much work for him and he dies because of it. Here we are, barely into the book and everyone, including the kid is working, and Jurgis' dad just died. I already feel like crying.

    So everyone is trying to make the best out of a terrible situation, but no one seems to be doing that well at it. Marija gets a boyfriend who can play the violin, but they can't marry because they are always broke. Winter sets in, and in packingtown, that doesn't bode well for anyone. Jurgis doesn't get heating at his job, and not only is it freezing it makes it hard to see, and lots of people at his job are getting hurt or worse, and some of them get ground up in the meat and no one cares. Then Marija gets laid off because her factory is shutting down, and everyone is pretty much miserable, but still they keep on. Jurgis tries to learn English and joins a union, and Marija gets her job back, but then she gets fired again because they didn't pay her all of what she earned and she complained about it. Talk about crappy living.

    I must admit, at this point I felt like not reading any more of this book, because I was getting so depressed by all the terrible things consistently happenning that I took a break from the book for about a month, so the continuity of this overview might be a bit off, but I'll do my best.

   As if enough tragedy hadn't happened yet, Jurgis sprains his ankle at the factory, and if you think they have workman's comp you haven't been reading very closely. He has to spend a long time in bed without pay, making his family unable to pay their debts. This makes Jurgis so depressed and embarrassed that he takes off, leaving everybody behind. He tries to get his old job back, but they won't give it to him so he goes off in search of other work, finally finding some at the fertilizer plant. Now this is the worst place you can work in packingtown, and everyone knows it. Its dangerous, it smells, and the pay is dismal, so Jurgis decides the best thing to do is get loaded and starts hittin' the bottle pretty heavily. I can't say I blame the dude, because at this point I would've been drinking quite a bit too.

    Back on the homefront one of Teta's kids dies from food poisoning, and Ona is prenant with her second kid. Jurgis finds this a bit odd, since he's been out doing his own thing, and finds out that her boss has been making her sleep with him. Understandably he gets a bit upset and goes to beat the guy up. He attacks him, gets arrested and then sent to jail for a month. While in the joint he meets this guy Jack, some two bit thug that knows how the system works. They become friends, some sage advice is given, and Jurgis gets out. When he gets out, he finds his family living back where they did when they first got here, having been kicked out of their old place because they couldn't pay the bills. Jurgis shows up right when Ona is having her kid, but the baby is premature and trying to have it kills her and the baby. Jurgis can' even see straight, having lost his wife and baby in one moment, and goes off on the biggest binger of his life.

    So Teta, one of the few from the beginning who haven't died, convinces Jurgis to quit being a drunk and get a job to support his only kidw, and he gets a job at a steel mill. For packingtown, this is a pretty good job. He starts feeling better, things start going well, and just when you think everything might be okay in the end, you realize there is still about a third of the book until the end and Jurgis' kid drowns in the street. Jurgis loses it and takes off, living as a bum wherever he can. Panhandling goes as well as it can, and Jurgis gets a hundred dollar bill from a rich guy. Being the complete drunk that he is, he goes to the bar and tires to get change, but the bartender acts like its a one dollar bill and gives him the wrong change back. Jurgis gets upset and attacks him, once again getting arrested and going to jail.

    When in jail, Jurgis meets up with Jack again, and this time the two get out and become partners. They rob houses and mug people, mostly small time stuff, but then they get recruited by Scully, a boss in politics at the time. While working for Scully, Jurgis' old union goes on strike, and he becomes a scab, making good money but sacrificing what was left of his principles. After this, Jurgis sees Ona's old boss walking down the street and attacks him again, going to jail for a third time. After he gets out nobody wants to have anything to do with him, so he has to be a beggar again. After awhile he sees somebody he used to know, and they tell him about his family, but of course it isn't good news. Marija is a prostitute and got hooked on the morphine, and Teta and her kids are starving to death. Jurgis gets this pride thing going and says he won't see Teta again until he cleans up his act.

    After looking for some time, Jurgis is about ready to give up, when he goes to a socialist meeting. He is invigorated with the socialist politic, and joins the party, hoping to bring about widespread social change. His socialist friends help him get a job at a hotel they run, he cleans up his act, and finally goes to see Teta. Now he is a major socialist, going to meetings, and the book ends with him going to one in which Sinclair's true message rings loud and clear. They can only bring about change if everyone in Chicago becomes a socialist.

    While not really making everyone a socialist, Sinclair did help the plight of the working man with this book, and even though it is terribly depressing and will keep you in a bad mood hours after you have stopped reading, I still suggest reading this one, if only to know how far we've come, and maybe, how far we have yet to go.