Working Conditions In The Jungle

In Jill Kaufman’s article “Meat Packing Industry,” Kaufman analyses the meat packing crisis and controversy that occurred during the Roosevelt administration in the early 1900’s. In 1906 Author Upton Sinclair released a novel title The Jungle, which sought to critic exploited meat packing workers of that time. While his novel did stir up some commotion, his ultimate goal remained unmet. Americans were appalled at the ways he described the unsanitary methods and procedures of the meat packing industry. This resulted in stricter policies and inspections being put in place; however, whether or not the industry was truly unhygienic and unsanitary remained disputed.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair follows the life of Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus and his family living in Chicago. Jurgis finds work at Brown's slaughterhouse and there he endures harsh working conditions as well as his family members. Ultimately he and family suffer many tragedies related to their work environments. While this book is a work of fiction it mirrors real life. The Jungle was published in 1906 during the Gilded Age.

After reading “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, Theodore Roosevelt passed a few acts to ensure a safer and sanitary environment where livestock is slaughtered and processed. “The Jungle” shows the working class and their lack of social support, the loss of hope among the workers and unsanitary working and living conditions, for example, working environments were covered in blood, meat scraps, and dirty water. The book follows a man as he observes the meat industry as its horrific faults. He noticed the workers lost their fingers in the meat and the workers used bathrooms next to where the meat was processed occasionally doing their business on the floor. There was a chapter describing the meat being piled on the floor carrying sawdust, dead rats,

Lyddie’s working conditions in the factory are unsafe and dangerous. Even the factory building was unsafe. “... A girl had slipped on the icy staircase in the rush to dinner. ”(101) .The machines were very big and dangerous.

Around seventy percent of Americans claim to hate their job, but The Jungle by Upton Sinclair puts into perspective how fortunate they really are (Adeline). This novel goes into detail about what was actually happening in the meat packing plants of 1906 and how it affected the employees’ mental and physical health. The workers in the meat packing plants had it much worse than those seventy percent today. They described their job with many negative words such as “agony”. The use of the word “agony” in The Jungle proves that the so-called employees were actually just slaves.

Instead of honing in on the social aspect, and the workers in general, many scholars and students are taught that the main purpose of this novel was to unveal the meat-packing conditions and the lack of policies and standards regarding the health of the public. To add, Barrett states, “...the slaughterhouses and the fate of the animals consigned there symbolized a much greater human tragedy being played out in factories and urban slums throughout the world” (xiii). This perfectly sums up that the initial goal of Sinclair’s writing was intended to emphasize and focus in on the hearts of humans, but rather as previously mentioned, ended up hitting them in the stomach, in relation to the unsanitary and disturbing conditions that America’s food was being processed. Another valid part was the lack of emphasis on American’s social life. This served as a prime weakness that Barrett explained, which he states, “The social and cultural lives of the immigrants disintegrate under the pressures of daily life in an urban slum” (xix).

Nearly everything, at the time, was an incredibly competitive business and the conditions were relentless. Particularly in the steel industry, the conditions were the worst. Painter writes “The hot,

Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food. Body 1: The meat packing industry’s working conditions were much worse in the 1900’s than they are today. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, working conditions were horrible for immigrants who were employed in these factories. People in these factories were worked very hard and used up till they could not work anymore. In the novel Jurgis broke his ankle because of the unsafe

Working in textile factories was unsafe for working class families because of the work environment they had to work in. Many workers had bad experiences in their time of employment. In the document “Testimony of Joseph Hebergam to the Sadler Committee” it says “Sadler: Did he tell you the cause of your illness? Hebergam: He told me that it was caused by the dust in the factories and from overwork and insufficient diet…”. This quote proves that the factories were unsafe to work in because it caused illnesses and even lead to death.

Without a doubt, industrialization was one of the biggest factors in how the United States developed. It gave us the means of mass production, better transportation, and eventually the consumerist society that the United States is today. Industrialization did drastically change American society, but did it change America for the better? Did it do more good than bad? While industrialization did lead to multiple social and economic problems, the advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages.

Upton Sinclair portrays the economic tension in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through his novel “The Jungle”. He used the story of a Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, to show the harsh situation that immigrants had to face in the United States, the unsanitary and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking plants, as well as the tension between the capitalism and socialism in the United States during the early 1900s. In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, there were massive immigrants move into the United States, and most of them were from Europe. The protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, like many other immigrants, have the “America Dream” which they believe America is heaven to them, where they can

After reading Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, child labor, urbanization, industrialization and immigration are problem quite sore during 1880-1910 period. Firstly, the future of the world depends on the child. However, the lives of children today are causing people to worry about. According to the Labor Law, provisions on workers be aged 16 years or older, able to work, working under labor contracts, paid and subject to the management and administration of the employer.

Revealing the harsh treatment of meatpacking workers and showing the reality of the disgusting conditions found in butchery shops to the public, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle became an enduring classic by American readers throughout the early twentieth century the prompted the later creation of the Federal Drug Administration. In the early 1900s, America was explosively transitioning from an agricultural society to a thriving manufacturing-based nation. As production demand in factories grew throughout the country, the work force needed to run those factories also expanded. A new type of demanding and dangerous work became prevalent throughout the nation, as immigrants coming into the “Land of Opportunity” found themselves desperate

Introduction The First Industrial Revolution The First Industrial Revolution, which peaked during the late 18th century, started a new phase in human history, despite the terrible working conditions and unfair treatments in the factory. The First Industrial Revolution, which started the technological development in Europe during 1760 to 1830, was largely limited to Britain.

During the time period of the 1900’s, the meat packaging industry in Chicago, as Sinclair mentions in his novel, The Jungle, was a very unsanitary and extremely dangerous workplace that lacked much more than just a few safety precautions. Simple things, such as enforcing hand washing or workers’ rights were unheard of in the working environment. It is clear that Upton Sinclair was trying to expose the worker’s horrendous labor conditions in order to improve their situation, along with the introduction of socialism. Upton Sinclair, in his novel, talks about how a Lithuanian immigrant by the name of Jurgis Rudkus, and his family, travel to Chicago trying to make ends meet. However, they soon realize Chicago was not the place for that.