The book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair depicts a very factual image of what life was like during the rise of industrialization and big business. Throughout the book the author gives his readers many different aspects of industrialization and the effects each had on society. Although the image depicted is somewhat bleak and harsh the image is extremely close to how it truly was during this time.
One of the very first aspects that Sinclair shows his readers is immigration. He represents this with the use of a Lithuanian couple and their family. Jurgis and Ona become the protagonists of the story and Sinclair shows what immigrants had to go through to become settled in America. The immigrants are from Lithuania and have come to Chicago. Sinclair uses them to show what immigrants had to settle for in America and how there weren't many choices to be offered them. The immigrants move into a part of town known as Packingtown or known by the immigrants as the "stockyards." They have hardly any money and no possessions when they arrived in Chicago. They are eager to buy a house and are quickly sold a "new" house when they have enough money for a down payment. Soon Jurgis and Ona find out that the "new" house that they were sold is in fact a very old house that has been there for years with many occupants. This shows how easy immigrants were swindled out of the little money they had and easy the immigrants were taken advantage of. The immigrants came to America not having hardly a penny to their name and not speaking a word of English. They come to America with the hope that there would be a better life than the one they left in Lithuania yet when they get here all they get is cheated and no respect what so ever.
Another aspect that Sinclair shows in The Jungle is that of the interesting working conditions found during this time. Jurgis and Ona have moved into a part of the town known as the "stock yards.