A Political Analysis of The Jungle

One may surmise that Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is a political text disguised as a novel. Its anti-capitalist agenda is not hidden and appears at every opportunity in the text. However, it does an effective job of accomplishing its goals through its stark realism in its portrayal of the downfall of one immigrant family. Sinclair’s book The Jungleconfirms Marxist political critical theory: capitalism is a morally and economically flawed system, which is better replaced with socialism. However, although The Jungleenacted a lot of change for its time, a re-read in the present would not spark any new change. It is a text of its time and cannot be applied to current standards of government and society.