The Depiction and Function of Ethnicity in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" (ePub)

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2009 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Literatur, Note: 2,3, Universität Trier, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: 1. Introduction
"They had dreamed of freedom; of a chance to look about them and learn something; to
be decent and clean, to see their child to grow up and be strong" (TJ: 168).1 However, the
Lithuanian protagonists of Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle do not have a chance to fulfil
their dreams. They fail, suppressed by the capitalist elite and the daily distress of surviving
in the economic jungle of Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century.
With his description of the industrial conditions in the meat-packing industry Sinclair
gained recognition throughout the US. But, "as a work of modern fiction measured against
the aesthetic achievements of a Henry James or a William Faulkner or a James Joyce, The
Jungle hardly merits any discussion at all."2 The value of The Jungle as a literary product
cannot be traced back to certain stylistic devices, psychological density or any other criteria
of so-called "high literature." Nevertheless, it is one of the most important novels of its
time and, due to its political impact, even one of the most politically influential books in
the first decades of the last century. The author became a "muckraker," stirring up nationwide
attention due to the detailed description of the hygienic conditions in the meatprocessing
industry, basing this description on mere facts he gathered from his own observations3
which leads to the characterisation as "documentary novel."4
"Those who consider Sinclair insignificant base their rejection upon aesthetic criteria,
whereas Sinclair was concerned with the effect of his writings upon his audience - a very
different matter."5 Directly aiming at the hardships of the Lithuanian and other Eastern
European immigrants in Chicago, he intended "to make literature functional"6, i.e. to use it
as a device of directing more attention to the economic suppression in "Packingtown," the
area around the stockyards.
But neither aesthetic aspects nor political implications are the aim of this paper. Instead,
the depiction of ethnic Lithuanians, especially the Rudkus family and their leader Jurgis,
will be discussed. The questions arising here concern issues such as the function of ethnic
bonds and the meaning of family in the new environment and whether old values are still
compatible with the new society. Especially the relationship of these values respectively the wider ramifications between the immigrants' situation in Northern America and socialism
have to be considered. [...]