Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
Socialism as a Remedy for the Evils of Capitalism
The main theme of The Jungle is the evil
of capitalism. Every event, especially in the first twenty-seven
chapters of the book, is chosen deliberately to portray a particular
failure of capitalism, which is, in Sinclair’s view, inhuman, destructive,
unjust, brutal, and violent. The slow annihilation of Jurgis’s immigrant
family at the hands of a cruel and prejudiced economic and social
system demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class
as a whole. As the immigrants, who initially possess an idealistic
faith in the American Dream of hard work leading to material success,
are slowly used up, tortured, and destroyed, the novel relentlessly
illustrates that capitalism is to blame for their plight and emphasizes
that the characters’ individual stories are the stories of millions
of people. The Jungle is not a thematically nuanced
or complicated novel: capitalism is simply portrayed as a total
evil, from its greedy destruction of children to its cynical willingness
to sell diseased meat to an unsuspecting public. Sinclair opts not
to explore the psychology of capitalism; instead, he simply presents
a long litany of the ugly effects of capitalism on the world.
In Sinclair’s view, socialism is the cure for
all of the problems that capitalism creates. When Jurgis discovers
socialist politics in Chapter 28, it becomes
clear that the novel’s attack on capitalism is meant to persuade
the reader of the desirability of the socialist alternative. When
socialism is introduced, it is shown to be as good as capitalism
is evil; whereas capitalism destroys the many for the benefit of
the few, socialism works for the benefit of everyone. It is even
speculated that a socialist state could fulfill Christian morality.
Again, there is no nuance in the book’s polemic: The Jungle’s
goal is to persuade the reader to adopt socialism. Every aspect
of the novel’s plot, characterization, and conflict is designed
to discredit the capitalist political system and illustrate the
ability of a socialist political system to restore humanity to the
downtrodden, exploited, and abused working class.
The Immigrant Experience and the Hollowness of the
American Dream
Because the family that Sinclair uses to represent the
struggle of the working class under capitalism is a group of Lithuanian
immigrants, the novel is also able to explore the plight of immigrants
in America. Jurgis, Teta Elzbieta, and their family come to America based
on the promise of high wages and a happy, good life. From the outset,
they maintain an unshakable faith in the American Dream—the idea
that hard work and morality will yield material success and happiness.
But Sinclair exposes the hypocrisy of the American Dream as the
family members attempt to plug themselves into this naïve equation:
virtually every aspect of the family’s experience in Packingtown
runs counter to the myth of America to which they subscribe. Instead
of a land of acceptance and opportunity, they find a place of prejudice
and exploitation; instead of a country where hard work and morality
lead to success, they find a place where only moral corruption,
crime, and graft enable one to succeed materially.
Because he wants his readers to sympathize with Jurgis,
Sinclair goes to great lengths to ensure that this immigrant family
doesn’t seem alien or foreign to the American mind. He repeatedly
emphasizes that their values of hard work, family togetherness,
honesty, and thrift are those of the American reading public. Sinclair
doesn’t attack the American Dream; instead, he uses the disintegration
of the family to illustrate his belief that capitalism itself is
an attack on the values that support the American Dream, which has
long since been rendered hollow by the immoral value of greed.
