From the outset, Jurgis' response to financial difficulties is, "Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money—I will work harder." Young and full of energy, he cannot even fathom what it would feel like to be defeated, as the novel points out. This attitude is also reflected in his elderly and frail father, Dede Antanis, who is so determined to be self-reliant that he returns a large part of his earnings to the man who arranged his demanding job, ultimately leading to his downfall. The novel demonstrates that these immigrants are mistaken in thinking they can control their fates, yet it also critiques those who avoid personal responsibility.

Throughout the story, there are several examples of characters who believe that living within a corrupt system allows them to compromise their ethics. This personal corruption worsens the harshness of society, leading to further corruption, and so on. Even when a character tries to help another selflessly, like the social worker in Chapter 21 who gets her fiancé at the steel works to employ Jurgis, the action is never potent enough to overcome the relentless competitiveness of society. The only time Jurgis can truly embrace his individuality is when he is roaming the countryside, but this too comes at a cost, as his freedom means losing his family.

The novel's socialist conclusion suggests that individualism doesn't have to mean isolation, as it does in a competitive capitalist system; instead, it can represent personal advancement used for the greater good. Unlike other collectivist ideologies that aim to suppress or even eliminate individual thought, the form of socialism promoted in The Jungle advocates a combination of individualism with voluntary cooperation.