This essay examines Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel The Jungle through the lens of sociological theory, focusing on conflict theory, anomie, and Marxist analysis. Using the experiences of Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkus and his family in Chicago's Packingtown, the paper argues that deviant behavior, crime, and social disintegration are products of structural class inequalities rather than individual moral failure. The essay explores how the myth of the American Dream, the erosion of immigrant cultural cohesion, and unequal access to social and economic capital contribute to the breakdown of values and norms. It concludes by connecting the rise of the socialist and labor movements to conflict theory's explanation of collective responses to systemic injustice.
Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel The Jungle reflects the burgeoning interest in Marxism and socialism that took root during the Industrial Revolution. The novel also testifies to the disillusionment with the American Dream experienced by scores of immigrants like the Lithuanian family at its center. Jurgis Rudkus's transition from idealistic young immigrant to convict exemplifies conflict theory. The corruption in business and city politics serves as the source of Jurgis's deviant behaviors — his heavy drinking and his repeated criminal assaults. The class conflicts that Sinclair describes in The Jungle are irreconcilable without wholesale changes to the structures and institutions that govern social norms in America.
Immigrant communities from Eastern Europe occupied an underclass position partly because of their deviation from dominant cultural norms. Their lower-class status can also be explained through Marxist theory: as immigrants, they had no access to the means of production. Unable to hold positions of power, immigrants had no viable means of social mobility. The American Dream was a myth that encouraged new immigrants to participate in the labor force and benefit the capitalists.
As immigrants, Rudkus and his family also created a Lithuanian subculture in Chicago. Language was one way the family remained cohesive. The Lithuanian immigrants attempted to preserve their social customs, such as marriage rituals. Yet all family members were constrained by sheer survival — the need to earn a living. Lithuanian wedding guests could not afford to uphold the wedding customs of the old country. They were losing social cohesion because of financial strain, and that lack of cohesion weakened the immigrant community as a whole.
Immigrant communities became less cohesive and more focused on individualistic survival, leading to a breakdown in mores, values, and norms. Almost all family members — including the women — worked in deplorable conditions under corrupt labor bosses. The urban migrations that occurred around the turn of the century led to anomie, Durkheim's term for the dissolution of values and social norms that accompanies rapid social change.
"Unpunished corporate crime reflects unequal institutional power"
"American Dream sustains hierarchical structures harming immigrants"
"Labor movement offers structural solution to class conflict"
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