The Jungle by Upton Sinclair | Teen Ink

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

November 13, 2011
By TheBoulder GOLD, Plainsboro, New Jersey
TheBoulder GOLD, Plainsboro, New Jersey
14 articles 0 photos 0 comments

A Perfect Book, Five Stars

The book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, is a story about a Lithuanian family's struggle to survive in the so called "Land of Opportunity," the U.S. However the main purpose of this novel is to inform the public of how unsafe the working conditions were back then, in factories in the U.S., which wasn't properly addressed during that time period. I would give this book a five star rating, on a scale of one to five,( one being the lowest and five being the highest) because it is an amazing story of an immigrants survival in the Americas, it has many twists and turns that make the story fascinating, and because it had a major impact on the U.S.

Firstly, this book would receive a five star rating because it was true, in terms of it could have and probably did happen during that time period. Poor jurgis, the only male supporting the family, had to work very hard to find a job, and America just was not treating him right. He undergoes much pain and feelings that literally tear him apart, and what is even more tragic is that Jurgis was taken advantage of, since he did not know any better. He was despised by many others, because at that time period Americans would blame those illegal immigrants for taking away their jobs, because they accepted lower pay. But Jurgis is to blame for some of the events that happened to him because he did sometimes make wrong decisions. As one can see, this a very well-written story, which is very enthralling, because Jurgis never got a break in the U.S.

Furthermore, another reason why this book would receive a five-star rating in terms of interest is because it is very unpredictable. At one point in the story, Jurgis had one hundred dollars, and the next he is in the cold living off five cents! No one could dare to put this book down without the grief and suspense that whatever is happening next in the story will have to wait. Other events that are very unfortunate that occurred in Jurgis’ life include getting cheated into buying a house, suffering the pain of finding out his wife was having affairs with another man in order to make money, and that his only son had drowned to death. This book definitely achieves its goal of entertaining its readers, as it instantly became a best-seller, which is why I would give this book a five-star rating.

Moreover, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair had a major impact on the world, and after this book was published, the FDA was created. The purpose of the FDA is to ensure cleanliness and the quality of foods and drugs produced in the U.S., because these problems were addressed in this book. Ever since the creation of the FDA, many people are and will be in healthy condition, and the working conditions in factories have drastically improved. It is very clear that The Jungle had a major impact on the world, and Upton Sinclair achieved his goal of creating many reforms in the meat industry, along with creating a couple vegetarians in the U.S. Upton Sinclair was also inspired by many news articles, especially one about a strike that took place near Chicago, because of a meat industry, then he decided to spend some time in Chicago, to provide the backbone of his story. Due to his hard work, he and many people can successfully live longer, healthier lives, which is another reason why this book deserves a five-star rating.
In final consideration, this book deserves a five-star rating because this book portrays an
amazing tale of an immigrants life, the story-line is very enthralling, and this book had a major impact on the U.S. This book was an event that would change the U.S. forever, and the FDA has helped save so many lives that, without this book, the U.S. would be in very bad condition. If this book does not deserve a five-star rating, than I’m not sure what book would deserve a five-star rating, because this is a perfect book.


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