The Jungle

Upton Sinclair s incendiary 1906 novel exposed the harsh realities of industrialized society to the American people at large. The Jungle is the fictionalized narrative of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian-American immigrant trying to make a life for his family in Chicago. Capturing the brutal realities of the meatpacking industry, as well as capitalism s brutal disregard for the welfare of its impoverished labor force, Sinclair s work ushered in a new era of worker s rights and union organization and reshaped a nation.