How Does Upton Sinclair Present Socialism In The Jungle
Throughout Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, Jurgis Rudkus descends into an abyss of poverty as he journeys through the industrialized urban jungle known as Packingtown. Allowing a family of Lithuanian immigrants to be his farmhands, Upton Sinclair plants the seeds of socialism into readers’ minds, hoping for a prosperous season. Jurgis’s journey through the depths of American Capitalism tarnish his soul, leaving him a mere shell of his former self. The slow annihilation of Jurgis’s family at the hands of a cruel and prejudiced economic social system demonstrates the effect of Capitalism on the working class as a whole. Sinclair flawlessly presents Socialism as a new religion, portraying Jurgis as a Christ figure set out in Packington to baptize
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In John 10:30, it is said that Jesus chose to accept the crucifixion in order to save all of humanity from their sins only later to rise again. In The Jungle, Sinclair alludes to Socialism as the key to salvation and Jurgis Rudkus as the saviour. The seeds of Socialism Sinclair had so carefully reaped and sown in the mind of Jurgis finally are able to push through the muck of Capitalism. Thus, allowing him to encounter socialism head on, undergoing an awakening, for he was “a man whose soul had been murdered,” “who had made awful terms with degradation and despair” but now “the sky seemed to split above him,” as if Socialism is the answer to his prayers (Sinclair 258). As Jesus lead his followers towards Christianity, Jurgis’s passion for socialism provides the spark needed in order for him to begin to lead the family towards a baptism in the holy waters of socialism. Once Jurgis has become a socialist, he goes on missionary duties, telling all of the people he knows that socialism is the way to a more perfect
In John 10:30, it is said that Jesus chose to accept the crucifixion in order to save all of humanity from their sins only later to rise again. In The Jungle, Sinclair alludes to Socialism as the key to salvation and Jurgis Rudkus as the saviour. The seeds of Socialism Sinclair had so carefully reaped and sown in the mind of Jurgis finally are able to push through the muck of Capitalism. Thus, allowing him to encounter socialism head on, undergoing an awakening, for he was “a man whose soul had been murdered,” “who had made awful terms with degradation and despair” but now “the sky seemed to split above him,” as if Socialism is the answer to his prayers (Sinclair 258). As Jesus lead his followers towards Christianity, Jurgis’s passion for socialism provides the spark needed in order for him to begin to lead the family towards a baptism in the holy waters of socialism. Once Jurgis has become a socialist, he goes on missionary duties, telling all of the people he knows that socialism is the way to a more perfect