Marija learns that her job came at the expense of a fifteen-year employee.
She also learns that Jonas obtained his job after his predecessor
died as a result of the unsafe working conditions. Jurgis notes
that unfit meat, such as calf fetuses and animals that have died of
disease, are butchered and packed with the rest of the meat.
Analysis: Chapters 3–5
This section continues Sinclair’s demolition of the American
Dream as he builds his argument against capitalism and for socialism.
Jurgis, who still naïvely holds onto the American Dream, views the
factories with undiluted optimism. Sinclair portrays him as utterly committed
to the values of labor and family on which the American Dream is
based. Again, he attempts to make Jurgis appear sympathetic to
the average American reader. Unlike Jurgis, the more experienced Jokubas
views the entire process with sarcasm because he knows better. He
knows the corrupt owners of the vast meatpacking empire betray the
values of the American Dream in every way possible.
The vast stockyards, packed with cattle, pigs, and sheep,
demonstrate the marvelous efficiency of the economic machinery of
the meatpacking industry. However, the animals packed into the stockyards
and herded into slaughter serve also as metaphors for the immigrant
laborers who crowd into Packingtown looking for the opportunity
to earn a piece of the American Dream. Like these ill-fated animals,
the unsuspecting Jurgis and other immigrants are herded into the
machinery of capitalism and slaughtered en masse.
Sinclair’s description of the unsanitary and disgusting
practices of the meat-packing industry consists of a two-pronged
attack. First, he details the lack of sanitation in the factories
in order to garner sympathy for the wage laborers who must work
there. But the real impact of his exposé lies in his portrayal of
the practice of selling diseased and rotten meat to the American
public. Sinclair wants the reader to identify with the immigrant
laborer through their victimization by the same enemy. The factory
owners value their profits over the health of the workers and the
public consumer.
The real-estate scam is another attack on capitalism.
The agent lies when he says that the houses are “going fast” to
pressure the family into acting without considering all of the conditions.
The flyer advertising the houses is misleading. Moreover, the deed
specifies that the house is a “rental” until it is paid for. The
purpose is to make it easy to evict families when they start missing
payments. With its emphasis on maximum profit, the scheme prioritizes
corporate gain at the expense of the consumer. A poor family is
given no leeway for missed or late payments. Instead, the family
is thrown out of its home in times of financial crisis.
Tamoszius’s explanation of “graft” to Jurgis portrays
capitalism as a machine that encourages and values corruption—anyone
hoping to get ahead must become corrupt. Therefore, capitalism attacks the
fundamental moral idea behind the American Dream, namely that hard,
honest work earns its just reward. Sinclair attempts to show that,
within capitalist economics, one cannot advance by means of hard
work and a strong commitment to good social values. Instead, the
enterprising individual must become a liar, thief, and predator
to keep from being exploited.
