The Jungle It's a Jungle Out There Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle (1906) offers an in-depth look at the lives of immigrant workers here in America. In fact the look was so thorough that the Pure Food and Drug Act was created as a result. Many people tend to focus solely on the unsanitary conditions instead of the hardships faced by workers. I actually think Sinclair doesn't want to focus on meatpacking, but on overcoming obstacles, especially through socialism. Sinclair himself was very outspoken when it came to socialism. The story is set in Chicago with a group of immigrants. They came to the United States only to find that it is a cruel, harsh world and the land of broken dreams. The group first goes through many difficult trials and tribulations. The first major problem the group faces is marriage, which costs a lot of money. The second test is a very tragic death. Subsequently a couple buys a house which is sold to them for three times its value. Parents and other groups then move into the house. One of the characters enters the meatpacking industry and this is where we discover all the unsanitary details of the factory. Another character is a musician who is struggling to find work, so his wife takes a job. After a while the meatpacking plant character breaks his arm and isn't brought back once he's healed. So you learn that the owners don't care about their workers and they take you if you're new, but as soon as something happens they throw you out. It is at this point that the character speaks with a socialist announcement that inspires him to start going to meetings. He returns to his job and immediately becomes the manager. After his first socialist rally he mainly listens to two people; one a former professor turned philosopher and the other an evangelist turned traveler. The Jungle had a lot to do regarding socialism. Upton greatly disliked communism and capitalism and thought socialism was the answer. Sinclair grew up in Baltimore, and his family was remarkably poor. His father had many failures in his work and it is believed that for this reason Sinclair became a socialist because in communist countries all people are treated equally..