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Analysis Of Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

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As a youth Sinclair found his zeal for social and moral justice, these ideas were fostered by Reverend W.W. Moir who had a great influence over him.1 Sinclair was an unremitting force exposing societal issues in an era of progressive reform. The quote “Good literature substitutes for an experience which we have not ourselves lived through." means that works of literature can substitute for an experience in which we the reader have not endured ourselves. His most notable work was The Jungle in which he exposed the American public to the inhumane and hazardous conditions of the meat packing industry and the injustices faced by immigrants.

Upton Sinclair was born on September 20, 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland to an alcoholic father whom he was named after and his …show more content…
2 Throughout his child hood he experienced a life of poverty and a life of affluence. When he was not with his father in cheap apartments he stayed with his mother’s affluent relatives. The stark differences between the two different lifestyles bothered Sinclair. It is evident in his writings when the clash between wealth and poverty to promote socialism is his theme. 3 As an adolescent Sinclair Sinclair was a gifted student who enrolled at the College of the City of New York and then later entering the graduate school program at Columbia. He sold nickel novels and pulp fiction books he authored to put himself through school. He also took interest in the Episcopalian church where he became influenced to speak against moral and social injustices. Not long after Sinclair engaged himself in a form of investigative journalism that exposed social issues referred to as muckraking. It was not until Sinclair was pursuing a lead to investigate the meat packing industry of Chicago did his career take off. He published his discoveries in the form of The Jungle which exposed the awful working conditions and the unsanitary conditions of meat

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