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Authors: Upton Sinclair
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Whether this improvement over earlier work be the result of writing under high excitement, whether it be as a campaign orator that Mr. Sinclair has gained such heat and motion, rather than as a novelist, cannot be decided now, particularly as the constructive, socialistic ending is exactly as weak and ineffective as any ordinary prospectus of a land company.
“The Co-operative Commonwealth is a universal automatic insurance company and savings bank for all its members. Capital being the property of all, injury to it is shared by all and made up by all. The bank is the universal government credit account;”—and so on for many pages whose flatness suggests a different hand from the brilliant opening chapter, with its vigorous description of the Lithuanian marriage feast.
To judge
The Jungle
fairly, it should be analyzed, first, as the work of an enthusiast absorbed in a special issue; next, as a novel which, though its realistic side might be the work of any able journalist, on the side of imagination shows qualities which can only belong to the born story-teller. And lastly, it must be confessed that in many places the effect is gained by revelling in ugliness, by lacerating the nerves so that a great tragic impression is obscured by foul-smelling detail.
The Jungle
fairly, it should be analyzed, first, as the work of an enthusiast absorbed in a special issue; next, as a novel which, though its realistic side might be the work of any able journalist, on the side of imagination shows qualities which can only belong to the born story-teller. And lastly, it must be confessed that in many places the effect is gained by revelling in ugliness, by lacerating the nerves so that a great tragic impression is obscured by foul-smelling detail.
—January 1907
Questions1. The serialized installments of
The Jungle
were widely distributed in the socialist journal
Appeal to Reason,
but five book publishers rejected the novel. A consultant to Macmillan wrote: “I advise without hesitation and unreservedly against the publication of this book which is gloom and horror unrelieved. One feels that what is at the bottom of his fierceness is not nearly so much desire to help the poor as hatred of the rich.” What might be the origins of the resistance to publish the book? Was this a classic case of suppression of a “dangerous” text, or rather a symptom of publishers putting their heads in the sand?
The Jungle
were widely distributed in the socialist journal
Appeal to Reason,
but five book publishers rejected the novel. A consultant to Macmillan wrote: “I advise without hesitation and unreservedly against the publication of this book which is gloom and horror unrelieved. One feels that what is at the bottom of his fierceness is not nearly so much desire to help the poor as hatred of the rich.” What might be the origins of the resistance to publish the book? Was this a classic case of suppression of a “dangerous” text, or rather a symptom of publishers putting their heads in the sand?
2. Early critics of
The Jungle
continually use the word “disgusting”—not just for conditions at the packing plant, but also for the bars and prostitution of Jurgis Rudkus’s decline. The “disgust” is moral as well as physical. Are the causes of this disgust overdone in the novel? Or are we now less squeamish, morally and physically, than Sinclair’s first readers?
The Jungle
continually use the word “disgusting”—not just for conditions at the packing plant, but also for the bars and prostitution of Jurgis Rudkus’s decline. The “disgust” is moral as well as physical. Are the causes of this disgust overdone in the novel? Or are we now less squeamish, morally and physically, than Sinclair’s first readers?
3. A wit once said that after a while a problem play ceases to have one and becomes one. Is that true of a problem novel? What does
The Jungle
have going for it besides the exposé of conditions at the stockyards and the tycoons and politicians who were involved?
The Jungle
have going for it besides the exposé of conditions at the stockyards and the tycoons and politicians who were involved?
FOR FURTHER READING
BiographiesBloodworth, William A., Jr.
Upton Sinclair.
Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.
Upton Sinclair.
Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.
Harris, Leon A.
Upton Sinclair: American Rebel.
New York: Crowell, 1975. The standard, most in-depth biography.
Upton Sinclair: American Rebel.
New York: Crowell, 1975. The standard, most in-depth biography.
Sinclair, Upton.
Autobiography.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1962.
Autobiography.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1962.
Yoder, Jon A.
Upton Sinclair.
New York: Ungar, 1975.
SocialUpton Sinclair.
New York: Ungar, 1975.
and
Literary Context
Barrett, James R.
Work and Community in the jungle: Chicago’s Packing-house Workers, 1894-1922.
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Work and Community in the jungle: Chicago’s Packing-house Workers, 1894-1922.
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Blinderman, Abraham, ed.
Critics on Upton Sinclair.
Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1975. Includes contemporary reviews and responses to the novel.
Critics on Upton Sinclair.
Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1975. Includes contemporary reviews and responses to the novel.
DeGruson, Gene, ed.
Upton Sinclair’s
The Jungle:
The Lost First Edition.
Memphis and Atlanta: St. Lukes Press, 1988. A reconstruction of the unedited serial version of the novel.
Upton Sinclair’s
The Jungle:
The Lost First Edition.
Memphis and Atlanta: St. Lukes Press, 1988. A reconstruction of the unedited serial version of the novel.
Halpern, Rick.
Down on the Killing Floor: Black and White Workers in Chicago’s Packinghouses, 1904-54.
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Down on the Killing Floor: Black and White Workers in Chicago’s Packinghouses, 1904-54.
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Jensen, Carl.
Stories That Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century.
New York: Seven Stories Press, 2000.
Stories That Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century.
New York: Seven Stories Press, 2000.
Kazin, Alfred.
On Native Grounds: An Interpretation of Modern American Prose Literature.
1942. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. Classic study of American writers in the period 1890-1940, with a strong section on Sinclair and the muckrakers.
On Native Grounds: An Interpretation of Modern American Prose Literature.
1942. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. Classic study of American writers in the period 1890-1940, with a strong section on Sinclair and the muckrakers.
Pizer, Donald, ed.
Documents of American Realism and Naturalism.
Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1998.
Documents of American Realism and Naturalism.
Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1998.
Rideout, Walter B.
The Radical Novel in the United States, 1900-1954: Some Interrelations of Literature and Society.
1956. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
The Radical Novel in the United States, 1900-1954: Some Interrelations of Literature and Society.
1956. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
Shannon, David A.
The Socialist Party of America: A History.
New York: Macmillan, 1955.
The Socialist Party of America: A History.
New York: Macmillan, 1955.
Weinberg, Arthur and Lila, eds. 1961.
The Muckrakers.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001.
AdditionalThe Muckrakers.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001.
Works Cited in the
Introduction
Elias, Norbert.
The Civilizing Process.
First edition 1939 as
Über den Prozess der Zivilisation.
Translated from the German by Edmund Jephcott: New York: Urizon, 1978.
The Civilizing Process.
First edition 1939 as
Über den Prozess der Zivilisation.
Translated from the German by Edmund Jephcott: New York: Urizon, 1978.
Giedion, Siegfried.
Mechanization Takes Command: A Contribution to Anonymous History.
1948. New York: W. W. Norton, 1969.
Mechanization Takes Command: A Contribution to Anonymous History.
1948. New York: W. W. Norton, 1969.
Schlosser, Eric.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
2001. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
2001. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
Sinclair, Upton.
Mammonart: An Essay in Economic Interpretation.
Published by the author in Pasadena, CA, in 1925. Reprint of the author’s edition: Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1975.
Mammonart: An Essay in Economic Interpretation.
Published by the author in Pasadena, CA, in 1925. Reprint of the author’s edition: Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1975.
a
Go! Go! Close the door!
b
Z. Graiczunas [a proper name], Happy Garden. Wine. Schnapps.
c
Author’s note: Pronounced
Yoorghis.
Yoorghis.
d
The Polish word for “wedding.”
e
Come quickly.
f
Farewell my dearest flower; / Farewell my happiness as well, as for me, the unfortunate, / I see I am destined by the Highest / To live alone in this world, in misery.
g
Stop! What’s the matter with you?
h
Ponas
means “mister” or “sir.”
means “mister” or “sir.”
i
“Szalin!”
means “Go away!”
“Palauk! iszkelio!”
means “Wait! Step aside!”
means “Go away!”
“Palauk! iszkelio!”
means “Wait! Step aside!”
j
Madame or Mrs.
k
Weaklings.
l
Guts. Poker. Broom.
m
Tomorrow! In the morning! Seven!
n
Oh, God!
o
Try to understand!
p
Woe is me!
q
Here! Here!
r
Potassium nitrate, a natural by-product used in the composition of gunpowder.
s
Author’s Note: “Rules and Regulations for the Inspection of Live Stock and their Products.” United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industries, Order No. 125:—SECTION 1. Proprietors of slaughterhouses, canning, salting, packing, or rendering establishments engaged in the slaughtering of cattle, sheep, or swine, or the packing of any of their products,
the carcasses or products of which are to become subjects of interstate or foreign commerce,
shall make application to the Secretary of Agriculture for inspection of said animals and their products.... SECTION 15. Such rejected or condemned animals shall at once be removed by the owners from the pens containing animals which have been inspected and found to be free from disease and fit for human food, and
shall be disposed of in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and regulations of the state and municipality in which said rejected or condemned animals are located....
SECTION 25. A microscopic examination for trichinæ shall be made of all swine products exported to countries requiring such examination.
No microscopic examination will be made of hogs slaughtered for interstate trade, but this examination shall be confined to those intended for the export trade.
the carcasses or products of which are to become subjects of interstate or foreign commerce,
shall make application to the Secretary of Agriculture for inspection of said animals and their products.... SECTION 15. Such rejected or condemned animals shall at once be removed by the owners from the pens containing animals which have been inspected and found to be free from disease and fit for human food, and
shall be disposed of in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and regulations of the state and municipality in which said rejected or condemned animals are located....
SECTION 25. A microscopic examination for trichinæ shall be made of all swine products exported to countries requiring such examination.
No microscopic examination will be made of hogs slaughtered for interstate trade, but this examination shall be confined to those intended for the export trade.
t
“Palauk!”
means “Wait!”
“Muma”
is a term of endearment.
“Tu mano szirdele”
means “You are my little heart.‘
means “Wait!”
“Muma”
is a term of endearment.
“Tu mano szirdele”
means “You are my little heart.‘
u
A bird that undergoes seasonal changes of color.
v
From Oscar Wilde’s
The Ballad of
Reading
Gaol
(1898).
The Ballad of
Reading
Gaol
(1898).
w
A mass of molten metal cast into a bar or other convenient shape.
x
See page 135.
y
A term for a strike-breaker, a worker who takes the job of a striker.
z
Undress Undress (French).
aa
The The French national anthem, a song that celebrates revolutionary resistance to tyranny.
ab
“Crush the Infamous,” a slogan made familiar by the author Voltaire (1694-1778).
L‘infâme
referred to any form of religion that persecuted nonadherents or promoted fanaticism.
L‘infâme
referred to any form of religion that persecuted nonadherents or promoted fanaticism.
ac
Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of veterans of the Union Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.
ad
Lloyd’s book on the Standard Oil Company, titled
Wealth against Commonwealth,
was published in 1894.
Wealth against Commonwealth,
was published in 1894.
ae
Jack London.
af
The magazine in which
The Jungle
was originally published.
The Jungle
was originally published.
BOOK: The Jungle (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
11.72Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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