The Jungle refers to the meat-packing district in Chicago during the late 1800's. This story follows a family from Lithuania who immigrates in the hope of a better life working in this area. They are constantly beset by challenges like fraud, injury, overwork, being taken advantage of, jail, death, etc. Their situation just gets worse and worse. It is so sad. When there is a tiny spark of hope that is snuffed out in a second, they struggle even more.
This book was written with a purpose. Sinclair was trying to promote socialism. As a reader, I want things to change as well, so the poor and immigrants are treated better and don't struggle as much, but obviously I don't agree with any of his socialist arguments. That is a very hard political ideology for any American to accept. Capitalism is pretty much bred into our DNA. I'm guessing it would be a challenge for any reader to accept now, though, since socialism has failed pretty spectacularly in most places it has been tried.
Sinclair's goal, however, isn't the change this book accomplished. What it did bring about was better regulations of the meat market and the first FDA laws. Obviously to accomplish this the book contains very graphic descriptions of conditions at meat factories and what went into sausage and other products. It is very gross. Be prepared to feel a little queasy when reading.
This book is interesting and worth the time. The socialist speeches get pretty boring, but they only appear at the end of the book and aren't too terribly long. It is worth the time.
