The Appeal Of Socialism Essay, Research Paper
The Appeal of Socialism
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s hundreds of thousands of
European immigrants migrated to the United States of America. They had
aspirations of success, prosperity and their own conception of the American
Dream. The majority of the immigrants believed that their lives would
completely change for the better and the new world would bring nothing but
happiness. Advertisements that appeared in Europe offered a bright future
and economic stability to these naive and hopeful people. Jobs with
excellent wages and working conditions, prime safety, and other benefits
seemed like a chance in a lifetime to these struggling foreigners. Little
did these people know that what they would confront would be the complete
antithesis of what they dreamed of.
The enormous rush of European immigrants encountered a lack of
jobs. Those who were lucky enough to find employment wound up in
factories, steel mills, or in the meat packing industry. Jurgis Rudkus was
one fo these dissapointed immigrants. A sweeper in slaughter house, he
experienced the horrendous conditions which laborers encountered Along
with these nightmarish working conditions, they worked for nominal wages,
inflexible and long hours, in an atmosphere where worker safety had no
persuasion. Early on, there was no one for these immigrants to turn to, so
many suffered immensely. Jurgis would later learn of worker unions and
other groups to support the labor force, but the early years of his
Americanized life were filled, with sliced fingers, unemployment and
overall a depressing and painful “new start”.
Sinclair, has shown in a dramatic style the hardships and
obastacles which Jurgis and fellow workers had to endure. He made the
workers sound so helpless and the condtions so greusome, that the reader
almost wants a way out for Jurgis. Sinclair’s The Jungle is a “subliminal”
form of propaganda for Socialism. At a time in our nations history where
the rich were very wealthy, and the poor were peniless, Sinclair’s
portrayal of socialism in regards to the laborer is very appealing to a
jobless, hungry, indigent man.
Sinclair’s vision of socialism, wasn’t as flawless and beneficial
as it seemed. Although it gave the workers some motivation to work as well
as the could it was an attempt to commonize the working class. The Marxist
theory of communism stemmed from the ideologies displayed by socialism.
The masses of the population were controlled by a small elite. Sinclair
was a believer in socialism, and Jurgis was a member of the party. But
fortunately for today’s working force, the concept and potential threat of
socialism was stifled before it could make a permanent mark of American
society.