Book Report: “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair’s book titled “The jungle” presents the author’s visionary ideas to the American society in 1906. Sinclair’s show of the life of struggle is evident through the characters Jurgis Rudkus and Ona. The two are a family, struggling to make ends meet in the suburbs of Chicago. The author presents the suffering which immigrants undergo, especially those who do not know much of English who are forced to take on various labor jobs that are barely enough to sustain their daily expenses. Mr. Rudkus and his family stayed lowly having found a job in the meat industry, at Brown’s slaughterhouse. The presentation of life in the streets catches the eye of the audience especially when Sinclair reveals that rats were shoveled into sausage-grinding machines and that meat inspectors are highly corrupt to the extent that diseased cows are also packaged for sale.
The American society was not aware till the revelation by Mr. Sinclair. Then, the president’s move to install safety control measures among issues in the meat administration was good news. In fact, it was very good news to the society as well as Mr. Sinclair ambition to gain public eye and venture into further ambitions. Since the book brought all the consciousness about the deteriorating standards of food safety measures, it led campaigned for the revolution. Therefore, it is highly connected to the passage of pure food and Drug act of the year 1906 as the main campaigner. Since then, the safety measures in food among other products have been established to regulate the production and processing industries not only in the US but in the global society.
As the novel reveals, the problem was diverse and not very specific one. The whole food production system was not per standards. Every detail lacked the motive to enhance quality and safe food processing to the American society. Even though Sinclair did not mean to disclose what was happening in the meat production industry, the public was much concerned about him mentioning that diseased cows, rats among other objects were shoveled together with good meat to be sold to the people. This was devastating news to the general public. They could not imagine that the meat they normally but in the streets contained unsafe substances even though the government, through the inspectors were available to do their job. This meant that there was highly irresponsibility level among government officers.
The need to restructure a new regulation was, therefore, inevitable. Officers that were employed to serve in inspecting meat had failed, and the system was highly corrupt, it meant that very immediate action was to be taken to salvage the situation. Also, the meat drug industry of the 1900’s was generally poorly coordinated. Nobody carried the responsibility to make sure that safety is the way to go in serving the society. Administrators were highly concerned about the welfare of their pockets and not for the common good of the society. Even without the limelight brought by Mr. Sinclair’s book, there was a need for a serious regulation in meat production, packaging and processing. Otherwise, the members of the society would continue being served with unsafe human food.
Today’s Regulation
The regulation on food production is fundamental for the safety of the community. Nobody can go against the notion that food must meet the standard level that meets the requirements as stated by reputational bodies. With the high competitiveness of the industry in today’s commercial sector, regulation is inevitable. The good news is that there are well systems that govern the regulation of the standard of meat among other food substances in the entire country and world. This means that people are assured of safety of the food they eat. Very little chances of misappropriations are available in the American society concerning food and safety standards. However, this does not mean that regulation has to be abandoned to make sure that people exercise their freedom.
Pointing specifically to third world countries, it is evident that food safety regulation is a must. This is because, even though the societies are different, a clear distinction to categories and name the type of food in the market is necessary to keep the public aware about what they buy. This will enable members of the society exercise their freedom the right way. Those who prefer certain meat will have a chance to buy while those who do not will have their own choice. The extent in which people are given different products out of their expectation, for example, buying goat meat instead of beef, will have no space in the current modern society. In making sure that these issues are enforced and strengthened in the society, regulation on production is the ultimate solution.
Poor Working Conditions
As evident, Mr. Sinclair’s main message was to address the public on issues of poverty. The disadvantaged majority in the society live in high levels of poverty. Furthermore, they are being treated very harshly by the few well-off individuals. This is seen in the conditions that Mr. Rudkus and his wife Ona work. First, Mr. Rudkus does not get the compensation he deserved for the hard work in the labor industry. He is very dedicated to serving the needs of the entire family, but he fails completely. This is because; the tasks he does at the workplace do not provide him with enough income to cater of his family. More so, Rudkus is more devastated by the conditions of work. Generally, the work conditions were very poor to the extent that he could not continue working. Instead, Rudkus had to give up on the job and seek for another chance somewhere else.
Secondly, Mr. Sinclair’s message was evidently expressed by the life of Ona – the wife to Rudkus. Ona had to settle for a living in a lowly paid job that she struggled to do although. Worse enough, Ona’s boss raped her repeatedly in order to ensure that she survives with the job. Without offering sexual favors, Ona would definitely get sacked. This shows how the poor survive miraculously in doing very odd jobs where there is a very poor working condition, and on top of that, they are sexually and physically abused. Having confessed, Rudkus takes a physical attack on Connor, Ona’s abuser and boss, an action that led him to serving a jail term. Then, without enough resources to pay for delivery services when Ona was due to give birth, she died of labor. Here, Mr. Sinclair was putting the issues of the poor society of the time into the public domain.
Evidently, these issues continue to exist in the current society. Even with the level of development, the world is yet to adapt into effective measures in dealing with poverty, and most importantly, the welfare of workers in the labor industries. Developed countries have made recognizable progress in dealing with issues affecting the low-class individuals. They have incorporated different regulation measures to make sure that the rich to do not exploit the poor. For instance, there are worker's welfare association that provides guidelines and awareness to both employers and casual laborers. These associations teach them on the expectations, responsibility among other issues to make sure that the welfare of each and every part is not compromised.
However, the situation on developing countries is the reverse. The low-class generation continues to struggle to make a living in the society. The only places where they can get jobs is the labor industries characterized with poor working conditions, poor regulations, and untold suffering. Furthermore, the premises in which the poor people work also lack good foundations. Textile factories have consistently collapsed killing many poor works. For example, in Bangladesh, more than 100 workers lost their lives through fire in the industry in November 2012. Another fire killed more workers in the same country in 2013. Similar disasters have occurred in sweatshop premises that have been in news involving big and worldwide corporations such as Apple, Nike to mention but a few. This has brought the limelight that owner of capital among established businesses owners lack the ethical responsibility to establish secure working environment for their workers.
Therefore, this calls for a harsh regulation about the production industry in the entire world. It does not make sense if production of food is facilitated by poor workers who suffer and are not paid a living wage. Furthermore, they are presented with life-threatening environments in the industries. In providing a solution, various state authorities should pass regulation laws that fully monitor the operations of the production sector. Other books have championed for the passage of food and drug act in the US. Others have championed for the passage of other issues such as the Great Depression, race relation among others. All of these contributions to the legislation worked at last even though there are still some loopholes to address in order to realize full implementation and effect.
