Dec 26, 2009

The Jungle | Literary Precedents

Critics commonly remark on The Jungle's naturalistic elements and so have drawn comparisons to the great novels that have depicted humanity as a species like all others directed by uncontrollable biological or social factors. To the extent that The Jungle shows pessimistic determinism, its precedent can be seen in Iimile Zola. The Jungle is polemical; so sometimes was Leo Tolstoy. If The Jungle is seen as journalistic and propagandistic, the search for precedents can look as far back as Thomas Paine. Before the book was written, Sinclair remarked, "The novel will not...