Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair was born in Maryland in 1878 Upton Sinclair was born in Maryland in 1878. His involvement with socialism led to a writing assignment about the plight of workers in the meatpacking industry, eventually resulting in the best-selling novel The Jungle (1906). Although many of his later works and bids for political office were unsuccessful, Sinclair earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1943 for Dragon's Teeth. He died in New Jersey in 1968.

Upton Sinclair was born in a small row house in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 20, 1878. From birth he was exposed to dichotomies that would have a profound effect on his young mind and greatly influence his thinking later in life. The only child of an alcoholic liquor salesman and a puritanical, strong-willed mother, he was raised on the edge of poverty, but was also exposed to the privileges of the upper class through visits with his mother’s wealthy family.

When Sinclair was 10 years old, his father moved the family from Baltimore to New York City. By this time, Sinclair had already begun to develop a keen intellect and was a voracious reader, consuming the works of Shakespeareand Percy Bysshe Shelley at every waking moment. At age 14, he attended the City College of New York and started selling children’s stories and humor pieces to magazines. After graduating in 1897, he enrolled at Columbia University to continue his studies and, using a pseudonym, wrote dime novels to support himself.

Upton Sinclair continued his tireless and prolific output into the second half of the century, but by the early 1960s he had turned his attention to Mary, who was in poor health following a stroke. She passed away in 1961, and two years later, at age 83, Sinclair married for a third time, to Mary Willis. Several years later, his own health caused him to move to a nursing home in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He died on November 25, 1968, at the age of 90, having written more than 90 books, 30 plays and countless other works of journalism.

The Jungle Upton Sinclair

FULL TITLE · The Jungle AUTHOR · Upton Sinclair TYPE OF WORK · Novel GENRE · Social criticism, political fiction, muckraking fiction

TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · 1905–1906, Chicago and Princeton, New Jersey DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION · 1906 PUBLISHER · Sinclair published the novel at his own expense after several publishing firms rejected it. NARRATOR · Though the narrator is anonymous, his sympathy for the laborers and vilification of capitalists identifies him as Sinclair’s mouthpiece.

POINT OF VIEW · The third-person narrator focuses on what Jurgis Rudkus does and what he feels, learns, and experiences. The quasi-omniscient narrator also provides commentary on the social forces that affect characters’ lives, though often this commentary is framed as knowledge that Jurgis gains at some future point. TONE · Sinclair’s attitude toward the story is obvious: the victimized working class is righteous, and the oppressing capitalists are evil. Sinclair’s perspective is identical to that of the narrator. TENSE · Past SETTING (TIME) · Early 1900s

SETTING (PLACE) · Packingtown, the meat-packing sector of Chicago

Characters Marija Berczynskas (ma-REE-ah ber-JIN-skas): Ona’s cousin, a 20-something orphan, but a strong woman. Ona Lukoszaite (OH-na luke-oh-SHY-tay): Marija’s 16-year-old cousin and Elzbieta’s step-daughter. Jurgis Rudkus (YER-gis rudd-KUSS): a strong Lithuanian immigrant who comes to America looking for the American Dream. Teta Elzbieta Lukoszaite (tay-Ta Luke- oh-SHY-tay): Aunt Elizabeth, Ona’s stepmother, and mother of six. Tamoszius Kuszleika (tam-ohsh-YOOS kuz-lie-KA): a fiddle player who intends to marry Marija. Dede Antanas Rudkus (Day-da on-TAN-us rudd-KUSS): Grandfather Anthony, Jurgis’s father, about 60 years old.

Jokubas Szedvilas (YO-koo-bus jzed-VEE-lus): delicatessen store owner and Lucija’s husband. Aniele Jukniene (ann-eel-AA yuk-NINE-uh): a widow with 3 children; she rents rooms in her home. Jonas (YO-nus): Elzbieta’s brother. Stanislovas (stah-KNEES-lo-vas): Teta Elzbieta’s 13-year-old small son. Mike Scully: a powerful Democrat and owner of much of “underground” Packingtown. Phil Connor: a foreman at Brown’s, where Ona works. Jack Duane: a thief that Jurgis meets in jail.