Book Report: The Jungle
Author: Upton Sinclair
Pages: 371
Date: 2/8/25
I chose this book because I have heard about it for a long time & remember learning about it in 8th grade history. It is from reviews of this book that the term “muckraking” came into existence – meanig writers who attempted to expose corruption. My personal opinion is that we have lost the art of muckraking in our society and almost no journalist works to expose corruption anymore. The intenton of the author was to bring attention to the plight of the human workers in the Chicago packing yards. It was his horrifying descriptions of the unsanitary handling of food that launched him and his novel into the spotlight. Public fervor erupted as the prospect of eating rotten & diseased food became a relity confirmed by Chicago newspapers. The FDA was created as a result of this book and subsequent investigations by investigators appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. It also ultimately led to the Meat Inspection Act & the Wholesome Meat Act. The Jungle centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago’s infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus & his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men and corrupt politicians.
Main characters
Jurgen Rudkus – ended up working in a hotel as a porter.
Ona – Jurgen’s wife — died in childbirth during the birth of their second child, who was stillborn.
Antanas – first child — drowned at the age of 2 in a street pothole.
Elzbieta – Ona’s stepmother — lived in a house caring for three of the children and supported by Marija.
Jonas – Elzbieta’s brother – He left the family to break off on his own.
Marija – Ona’s cousin — turned to prostitution in a brothel as a means to support Elzbieta and three of the children.
Six children of Elzbieta
Stanislovas (14 years old) — got locked in a factory at night & died when attacked & eaten by rats.
Kotrina (13 years old) – one of the children that lived.
Another daughter — one of the children that lived.
Kristoforas & Juozapa – two crippled boys — died of pneumonia from crawling on the cold floors.
the baby — one of the children that lived.
What I learned from this book is:
1) The Chicago Packyards, commonly called Packingtown, slaughtered & processed ~10,000 cattle/day, 10,000 hogs/day and 5,000 sheep/day for a total of about 9.5 million animals per year. Packingtown was not really a number of firms at all, but one great firm, the Beef Trust or the Chicago Meat Trust (different name for the same thing). The companies colluded to hold down wages, hold down on-the-hoof animal prices and hold processed meat prices higher.
2) Although this book is about an immigrant with a very hard life, I found it remarkable similar to my life. There is a part in the book when they face an issue and he tells his wife, “I will work harder.” I have often told my wife that when we faced issues. When he said he would go somewhere, he went there running. I often choose to run somewhere instead of walking (or at least walking very fast). There is another part of the book where he said it was the first time he REALLY worked, where it took all that he had to the point of complete exhaustion. I have done this, along with my employees, several times — so tired we could hardly move.
3) There were several times in the book where Jurgen felt his wife was too good for him. She trusted him completely and he had no good virtues of his own. I feel this way about my wife as well.
4) Jurgen was always fighting to stay ahead. There was always something against him that never allowed him to succeed for any length of time. I can relate to this.
5) Things were so bad & desperate that at one point, Ona slept with her boss to keep her job. When Jurgen found out, he beat the boss badly and ended up in prison. Over the period of the book, he was in prison several times where he could not help protect or provide for his family. That is how I feel now – powerless in prison while the home family life becomes exponentially more difficult. The judge told him that he should have thought about this before committing the crime – much like what my judge told me.
6) There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything he wants is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind bars, and the man is outside. One example of the latter refers to things that Jurgen wants to purchase for his family, but is protected from theft by the law. Another is the type of education he wants to obtain to do better for his family, but is prevented from doing so due to the “bars” inherent due to the lack of English fluency. The whole family realized that they never had a chance as the were too ignorant as immigrants and the job was simply too much for them.
7) When considering the lives of the men, women and children in this book, slavery is too kind of a word for what they went through. They must work harder than human strength can bear, must spend so many hours of every day doing one thing over and over again at the highest speed that they are too tired when work is over to preserve the decencies of human beings. Every single department of the work they do is alwasy degrading, dangerous or bound to result in some horrible disease. There were branches of work there which would bring certain death in five years.
8) The last two chapters of the book were less interesting as they delved too deeply into Socialism as a movement & politial party.
What I learned from this book that will help my prospect for success after prison:
1) Sometimes no matter what you do, there are macro forces beyond your control that will negatively impact you and your success after prison. For instance, the change from the $1 Blender Tax Credit for biodiesel to the 45Z Producers Tax Credit basically destroyed the traditional biodiesel industry. Since our family business focused on taking waste from biodiesel plants & extracting/distilling methanol to sell back to them, we are basically shut down. There is nothing we can do about it except focus on what we can control.
2) Just as Jurgen’s success or failure was highly correlated to the success/failure of his family – my success after prison simultaneously depends on the success of my family/wife. The more she succeeds, the more I succeed and vice-versa. Thus, not only do I need to focus on my own success, but focus on the success of my wife.
3) Just as in “The Jungle,” there are evil con-men in the world. Given that I see some of them in prison, I am becoming more aware of them and building immunity to them. I hope that this skill continues to develop in prison and I can maximize it outside of prison.
Vocabulary words from last three books:
alacrity – promptness in response; cheerful readiness
bindle – a bundle of clothes or bedding
caprices – a sudden impulsive & seemingly unmotivated notion or action
cicerone – a guide who conducts sightseers
elucidate – to give a clarifying explanation
expiation – the act of making atonement
Nubien – group of dark-skinned people from area betwen Egypt & Ethiopia
obsequious – marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness, subservient
rancor – bitter, deep-seated ill will
