Capitalism eats Jurgis and his family away until Jurgis’ last resort is to revert to Socialism. Sinclair sends a message that capitalism is the root of all evils while depicting the realities of the food industry during the early twentieth century. The bitterness is expressed, not through the finer points of The Jungle, but the purpose of the book itself. Sinclair seldom takes advantage of the use of third person to criticize capitalism, but when he does, he blames the companies, not the government. He says, “They[businesses] own not merely the labor of society, they have bought the governments; and everywhere they use their raped and stolen power to intrench themselves in their privileges, to dig wider and deeper the channels through which the river of profits flows to them,” (Sinclair 306). This quote demonstrates Sinclair’s belief that businesses extend their control over everything. The government and common people are excluded, but necessary to rake in earnings for the companies.
In the introduction, by C. Michael Hurst, points out that “capitalism forecloses all intimacy” with examples of how Jurgis and Ona are separated due to the financial stress. Because of Jurgis’ altercation with Ona’s boss, Sinclair manipulates the story so Jurgis is unable to find work and reports, “...he was blacklisted… He was condemned and sentenced, without trial and without appeal; he could never work for the packers again…” (Sinclair 196). Jurgis is very unfortunate to be blacklisted. He previously had been unable to find job openings and now after wasting his time to hear back from employers he had no chance at any of the plants or stockyards. The crippling effects of capitalism are seen right before the readers’ eyes and are utilized to illustrate how duplicitous capitalism is.
Ostrinski is like a car salesman, trying to persuade Jurgis to join the Socialist movement. He points out all of the flaws of the current situation in Chicago. Ostrinski categorizes the capitalist nature as the Beef Trust and then recounts their corrupt activities to Jurgis. The theft of city water, the obstruction of the courts in their favor, the hindrance of the mayor’s decisions, the distortion of files from the government, and the infraction of numerous laws were delineated to Jurgis (Sinclair 316). Without Ostrinski, Jurgis would not know why he was joining the Socialist movement. Sinclair’s depiction of the horrible events in Packingtown is his conviction of the Socialist principles.
