The Public Response
"The Jungle was fiction, but based on such truth that it was a wake-up call to those who had no idea how gruesome and unhealthy the meatpacking industry was, and a welcome literary piece to those who were aware of such conditions, but waiting for someone to fully expose them." - interview with Professor Lori Flores
"Within months, the aroused -- and gagging -- public demanded sweeping reforms in the meat industry." - capitalcentury.com
This picture shows a vandalized window of the Armour Meatpacking Plant. People were outraged at the slaughtering that had been taking place right under their noses for so long (flickr.com).
"The charges made by Mr. Upton Sinclair against the beef packers methods, put into his novel, but vouched by him to be true, have been examined by two most admirable men selected by the President, and to the surprise of many people the muck rake is vindicated." -The Independent, "an editorial that lent support to the accurate portrayal of Chicago's meatpacking industry in Upton Sinclair's novel, pointing out that independent investigations found similar conditions."
"Within months, the aroused -- and gagging -- public demanded sweeping reforms in the meat industry." - capitalcentury.com
This picture shows a vandalized window of the Armour Meatpacking Plant. People were outraged at the slaughtering that had been taking place right under their noses for so long (flickr.com).
"The charges made by Mr. Upton Sinclair against the beef packers methods, put into his novel, but vouched by him to be true, have been examined by two most admirable men selected by the President, and to the surprise of many people the muck rake is vindicated." -The Independent, "an editorial that lent support to the accurate portrayal of Chicago's meatpacking industry in Upton Sinclair's novel, pointing out that independent investigations found similar conditions."
"Unlike the historical significance attributed to the novel, the book was largely a discussion of social and economic disparity in the United States and Sinclair's main objective was a call to the public for a transfer to communist ideals. As such, the President was impressed by Sinclair's allegations and sought to seek the facts of the meat packing industry through his own resources. Roosevelt sent the Labor Commissioner, Charles Neill, and James Reynolds, a social worker to inspect the meat packing plants. The Neill-Reynolds Report largely confirmed all of the allegations insinuated by Sinclair's novel." - federal.laws.com, - photo from dipity.com
"'The question is,' says The Independent reviewer, 'how seriously shall we take this story of life in the packing house district of Chicago?' That seems to be the question with a great many people. For the past year, ever since the story began appearing serially, I have been receiving half a dozen letters a day asking it; so that if a public answer serves no other purpose, it will at least help to lighten the burden of my mail." - The Independent
Sinclair asserted that life in Packingtown was as he described it in The Jungle and assured his readers that although the family he depicted in his book was fictional, the details and attitudes of his characters were true to life.
Sinclair asserted that life in Packingtown was as he described it in The Jungle and assured his readers that although the family he depicted in his book was fictional, the details and attitudes of his characters were true to life.
"When 'The Jungle' was published, the public reaction was instantaneous. Outraged readers deluged President Theodore Roosevelt with letters. Roosevelt was ambivalent, but he invited Sinclair to the White House for lunch, and promised to send his labor commissioner and assistant Treasury secretary to Chicago to investigate." - from the NY Times "100 Years Later, the Food Industry Is Still ‘The Jungle’" by Adam Cohen
- U.S.D.A Documentary, 1946
"Sinclair intended to spark an outrage for the inhumane working conditions, but all he got was 'a revolution among consumers instead'”
-Hitchens 104"Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle Failed to Deliver It's Socialist Message"
-Hitchens 104"Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle Failed to Deliver It's Socialist Message"