The Jungle Group at eNotes

What does the does the book say about socialism versus capitalism and if...

Mon, 4 May 2009 10:34:50 PST

What does the does the book say about socialism versus capitalism and if things were so bad for the immigrants why didn't socialism spread more?

It relates to the workplace and environment all the characters work...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:44:53 PST

It relates to the workplace and environment all the characters work in. In the early sections of the book, it's life in Packingtown. Although there is hope when the Lithunia family coms to American, it is soon clear that the world of Packingtown is run by the law of the jungle. The house they buy is a major milstone around their necks, forcing them to take difficult, boring, and meaningless jobs just to make ends meet. In this Jungle,...

Upton Sinclair's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of the Labor Movement has a title...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:35:21 PST

Upton Sinclair's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of the Labor Movement has a title that suggests the struggles for survival that the Lithuanian immigrants had who worked in the Chicago stockyards in 1906 as they worked under horrible conditions. Also, the title is significant as the workers deal with the carnage of cattle, rats, etc. Their struggle to survive gruelling twelve-hour days of back-breaking work is analagous to animals's struggles to...

To what does the title of the novel, "The Jungle" refer?

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:10:59 PST

To what does the title of the novel, "The Jungle" refer?

Immigrants then and now/ Socialism

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:35:59 PST

To what extent can we compare the immigrating European labor of the late 1800's and early 1900's to the immigrating Latin American labor of today?

What impact did The Jungle have on the Socialist movement?

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair although written as a novel, exposed the...

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:19:45 PST

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair although written as a novel, exposed the unsanitary conditions in the Chicago meat packing industry. Known as a muckraker, Sinclair got a job in the Chicago meat packing industry and recorded his experience through prose. The impression The Jungle conveys regarding immigrants is this.... Immigrants learned fast that the streets were not paved with gold. American industrial might was met with a seemingly unending...

What impression does The Jungle convey about immigrants in America?

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:24:49 PST

What impression does The Jungle convey about immigrants in America?

Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, was a well-known socialist. In...

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:57:39 PST

Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, was a well-known socialist. In The Jungle, Sinclair is reacting to the ideas of social darwinism or the idea that those who are successful in society are those who are the most fit to survive. This idea was popular during the time Sinclair was writing his novels and The Jungle is meant to show the pitfalls of Social Darwinism's beliefs. The people who survive in his novel are not necessarily the most...

The metaphor recalls the "law of the jungle" where survival by all and...

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:44:42 PST

The metaphor recalls the "law of the jungle" where survival by all and any means is what controls behavior. It is also a metaphor for the city, where things are impersonal, people do not get to know each other, and live is generally hard, to say the least. Jurgis, the main character, comes to the city a healthy young man, willing to work, to do what he has to so that his family will have a good life. Instead of the chance to realize the...

What is the meaning of the metaphor of The Jungle?

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:30:15 PST

What is the meaning of the metaphor of The Jungle?

What problem are elzbieta and antanas discussing? Hoe do Jurgis and Ona...

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 14:51:20 PST

What problem are elzbieta and antanas discussing? Hoe do Jurgis and Ona react to the "trouble"?

After watching many wedding guests leaving without paying, Jurgis...

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:38:34 PST

After watching many wedding guests leaving without paying, Jurgis promises to pay for the wedding "by working harder". This shows how naive he is to plight of immigrants in America. Most of the men lucky to have jobs must arrive at work very early. The penalty for being just one minute late is to lose an hour's wages. Workers lose their jobs entirely if they are 20 minutes late. Then it may take weeks to find another job. The hours are...

What does Jurgis vow to do to pay the debt from the wedding celebration?...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:01:30 PST

What does Jurgis vow to do to pay the debt from the wedding celebration? What do you think this reveals about him?

Who was Dr. W K Jacques? What did he conclude about the jungle?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:17:09 PST

Who was Dr. W K Jacques? What did he conclude about the jungle?

Ironically, the author, Upton Sinclair, wanted his audience to turn to...

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:45:26 PST

Ironically, the author, Upton Sinclair, wanted his audience to turn to socialism as a cure for the problems he outlined in his novel. He had written about how dead rats were ground into sausage meat, how sick cows and pigs were slaughtered and sold to people unaware of the dangers of eating diseased meat. In addition, he even described how occasionally a worker would fall and be ground up into the mix for "Durham's Pure Leaf Lard." Meat sales...

What was established as a direct result of the public outcry from The...

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:23:25 PST

What was established as a direct result of the public outcry from The Jungle?

In the first 21 chapters of "The Jungle", Jurgis goes through...

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 03:11:21 PST

In the first 21 chapters of "The Jungle", Jurgis goes through more trauma than any person should ever have to deal with. He and his family move to Chicago thinking that they will live a much better life than the one that they were living. However, their lives in America prove to be anything but better. Jurgis and his wife are forced to work in meat packing factories in horrendous conditions and walk a long distance in all types...

In The Jungle, why does Jurgis finally give up and leave Packingtown to...

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 10:09:24 PST

In The Jungle, why does Jurgis finally give up and leave Packingtown to take up life as a tramp?

The term "muckraking" came from the idea that journalist were...

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:33:07 PST

The term "muckraking" came from the idea that journalist were raking up the "muck" or dirt of society from the floor. In other words, their stories were "dirty" and really didn't belong in respectable newspapers. Sinclair's novel, "The Jungle" both literally and figuratively scraped material from the floor. Dressed as a slaughter house worker, he found he could go unquestioned almost anywhere in the...

How did Sinclair "muckrake" for social reform in his novel...

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:59:00 PST

How did Sinclair "muckrake" for social reform in his novel "The Jungle"?