Ten Hidden Truths in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Essay

Ten Hidden Truths in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that â€Å"The Jungle† is an important insight into American history, more importantly, it unveils the hidden truths of workers’ life in Chicago at the beginning of the twentieth century. Usually, these truths remain hidden until late in a worker’s life and only exposed to him bit by bit. The bitter realities hurt the reader but Sinclair had to state them as they existed. Even today, the understanding of these truths is equally important because the exploitation takes forms to suit contemporary conditions. Following are ten basic truths identified from the reading of â€Å"The Jungle† by Upton Sinclair: Hidden Truth 1:  Ã‚   The reality of wonderful dreams. Jurgis, the hero of the novel had come to this land of opportunities – Chicago with so many wonderful dreams, but realities dawned on him when he was forced to starve in this land of high prices. He, like other migrants, had never thought of this cost ly life. The so-called high wages were quite insufficient to spend an expensive life in Chicago. The employers knew exactly, the tactics they had to employ to engage and cage the migrants. â€Å"A few days of practical experience in this land of high wages have been sufficient to make clear to them the cruel fact that it was also a land of high prices, and that in it the poor man was almost as poor as in any other corner of the world†. Hidden Truth 2: Cost of living a nightmare. Living in Chicago was no less than a nightmare for migrants. Jurgis and his family found it extremely difficult to pay the nine dollar rent while earning only little more than two dollars for a  twelve-hour job.   Buying a residence required fifteen hundred dollars with three hundred dollars down payment. The migrants had only two choices, either to pay rent forever or to pay the both; down payment and rent to own a house somewhere in the future. The interest-based economy had horrifying upshots o n the life of lower and middle-class worker families. However, the fact was deliberately obscured until the victim had been fully trapped. â€Å"You are like all the rest, she said; they trick you and eat you alive. They never sell the house without interest. Get your deeds, and see.† Hidden Truth 3: Superficial lifestyle lead to disasters. The first chapter of â€Å"The Jungle† is mainly on account of the wedding ceremony of Jurgis and Ona. The couple arranged this ceremony, which was beyond their resources, and it was the first brick laid wrong and the expenses incurred by the couple led to future disasters in their marital life.   â€Å"Most fearful they are to contemplate, the expenses of this entertainment. They will certainly be over two hundred dollars and maybe three hundred, and three hundred dollar is more than the year’s income of many a person in this room.† Most of the guest â€Å"sneaked off† either without contributing anything to the entertainment or only very meager amount. They knew what exactly the entertainment is going to cost them in the upcoming life, â€Å"do not worry—it will not matter to us. We will pay them all somehow. I will work harder.†. So, the superficial start of their marital life was dreadful and posed challenges and hardships for future life. Hidden Truth 4: The prejudice. Another untold story is the misery of living in humiliation. You lose all your confidence, and your children are born slaves. Even talking to a property agent had to come with so many cautions and concerns. All the lives they live apart and indifferent like aliens with gaps they can never fill. â€Å"To press the matter would have seemed to be doubting his words, and never in their lives had anyone of them ever spoken to a person of the class called â€Å"gentleman† except with deference and humility.