se such a large industry to fight back powerfully attests to its own power as a persuasive medium. Upton Sinclair’s often quoted remark about aiming for the heart and hitting the stomach definitely rings true when reading The Jungle. Most readers mistook it for another muckraking effort, on unsanitary conditions in the packinghouses. If Sinclair had not written the last three of four chapters of the book then it would have read much more like a social protest novel. Most definitely the purpose of The Jungle is to promote socialism as the only answer to the wage slavery enforced by capitalism. The book points out that labor unions have failed because owners can form more powerful associations. The answer, according to the socialists, is public ownership of the means of production. In other works people like Sinclair wanted to completely restructure the American society. He and other socialists believed that this was the only way for the workingman to gain freedom. They believe that there are no other alternatives offered; Socialism is the only way. Thus, finally is the theme of The Jungle. In some ways I can see where Sinclair is coming from in his beliefs, but at the same time there are other aspects of Socialism that I definitely do not agree with. It is a wonderful theory that if everyone owned everything then everyone would provide equally for it. This sound absolutely wonderful on paper, but the startling reality is that we are not all alike and different people have different standards. We live in America, the melting pot nation, the land of opportunity, where anyone can make it provided they have or can acquire the skills necessary to do so. Granted it is a lot easier to make it in America today than it was back when Sinclair wrote The Jungle due to Socialistic based programs like social security, welfare, Medicare, and workman’s compensation. In addition, programs like these along with federal and private scholarship ...
