The Jungle by Upton Sinclair changed the history of Chicago, the largest city of the meat packing industry. The book represents the lives of many immigrants who arrived to America to find the American dream, but as they experience the hardships of labor, discrimination and corruption, poverty took over their lives. In the book, the author clearly describes the dangerous and unsanitary working conditions that employees had to deal with, and the cruelty that was given to workers with cheap labor and long hours without having any benefits given to the employees. Many workers had accidents in the factories and were left without a job when they were injured. In the story, Jurgis is a young and energetic man who strongly beliefs in the American dream and is determine to work hard to so he is able to provide for his family, but when loses his job due to an injury at work, the family is faced with many economic difficulties. The aim of this paper is to analyze the poor labor laws during the 1890s-1900s, and how poverty in the city was a result of many injuries in the work place. .
The author describes Jurgis as a strong man who is able to do any work that was given to him. His motivation to achieve the American dream is due to his lover Ona, who came with him to America. After many of the family of twelve is able to get jobs in the meat packing industry in Chicago, they are tricked into buying a house but it turns out to be a swindle; the agreement is full of hidden costs. Jurgi's salary is very important to the family due to the increase of the family's living expenses. His salary is a little over two dollars a day (Page 47), bringing a little relieve to the family. After Ona gives birth to Jurgi's son, Jurgis feels more determine to work harder, but this all changes when Jurgi has an accident at work due to the dangerous work conditions at the factory. .
As Sinclair explains, the results that Jurgi's accident had in the family were drastic since he was unable to work for three months.
