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

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. [...]