The dream of the American immigrant was simple: America, the great land of capitalism, with its plentiful opportunities, would provide them with a good job and a home to raise their family in. The work would be easy, and life would be better than it had ever been in their native land. However, the American dream proved for many immigrants, including Jurgis Rudkus in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, to be nothing more than packed cities, tedious, low-paying jobs, and death. To Upton Sinclair, the cause of all society's ills was capitalism and the remedy was socialism. Sinclair uses specific details, symbolism, and the organization of the novel to expose the corrupt capitalism that hides behind the American dream, allowing him in the end to attempt to shamelessly promote his socialist views.

Details presented by Sinclair through both the mind of the characters and the facts of the novel...