The Jungle | Setting
The Jungle takes place in the meatpacking plants, stockyards, and settlement houses of Chicago during the opening years of the twentieth century. As much a work of journalism as of fiction, the novel grew out of Sinclair's firsthand observations of life in the "Yards" and his interviews with workers, foremen, and politicians. Although Sinclair wanted his novel to focus on the merits of socialism, its impact stemmed from its raw depiction of the inhumane working conditions at the packing plants and the health hazards posed by filth in the slaughterhouses. The novel's naturalistic...
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