111 pages • 3 hours read
Upton SinclairThe Jungle
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1905A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
Discuss the role that social Darwinist thought plays in The Jungle. In what ways does Sinclair agree with traditional social Darwinists (e.g. Herbert Spencer), and in what ways does he disagree?
What role do Sinclair’s graphic descriptions of spoiled and contaminated meat play in the novel? How do these descriptions relate to other, more symbolic forms of corruption or adulteration?
How does Sinclair depict organized labor in The Jungle? What does he ultimately argue regarding its ability to address the problems associated with capitalism? Do you agree?
Compare and contrast the visions of socialism articulated by Schliemann and Lucas. Why might Sinclair have included their debate in The Jungle?
Discuss The Jungle’s attitude toward traditional gender roles. How does this attitude intersect with its depictions of capitalism and socialism?
As the novel ends, Marija and Elzbieta seem to have little use for Jurgis’s hopefulness regarding socialism. Marija is especially unreceptive to his ideas, as she is still a prostitute and addicted to morphine. How does the unresolved or even pessimistic nature of their storylines impact the novel’s overall message?
How does Jurgis change over the course of the novel, and how does his character arc contribute to the work’s overall meaning?
Discuss the following quote in terms of the novel’s broader treatment of law, government, and social order: “There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside” (316-317).
In describing the family’s plight, Sinclair writes, “It was not less tragic because it was so sordid, because that it had to do with wages and grocery bills and rents” (153). What techniques does The Jungle use to make the suffering of the working-classes a subject “worthy” of literary treatment?
The Jungle contains many references to the people, events, and phenomena of turn-of-the-century America. To what extent is the novel still relevant today, and why?
