Upton Sinclair Essay Example for Free

Upton Sinclair EssayUpton Sinclair was born on September 20th 1878, in Baltimore Maryland. His life was spent alternating between governance, writing and in civilized rights movements. His first major ledger was written in 1903 Manassas, merely it is The Jungle that would throw him into instant fame and adjudge known his stand in the complications brought forth by capitalism. He was a socialist and tried rail for office in 1906, having a go at the congress in New Jersey finished the socialist party of America where he lost slightly. His literary works argon full of circumstantial publications where he would mirror authoritatively many of the issues affecting the Ameri shadowers.He was a socialist and was forever and a day at clash with conservative politicians who were painting him as a violent communist despite the position that he had denounced communism. His writings are non only policy-making or social but he withal gave a shot at psychic (William J. helm, 1994 ). His most recorded success in elections was in 1934 when he was nominated to run in office, this displaceence non with the socialist party but with the representative Party. He was however to lose as his most conservative people in California could not buy his political ideas.The communists thought of him as a capitalist while the capitalist believed he was a communist and was out to change the state for the worse. An analysis of his accomplishments would reveal that they did not lie in politics but in his advancement of civil rights. His notable achievement however is in the fatigue movements. His writings and campaigns were strong injection to the labor unitings. This shall remain the focus of this paper as it seeks to establish the impact and moment of Upton Sinclair on the American workers and the labor movements.Of particular interest in this paper will be his clean The Jungle and its impact of food legislations. The epitome of Upton Sinclair criticism of the capitali st system in the United States can be captured in The Jungle. It is here that he exposes many of the social evils that were being perpetuated in the society curiously against the misfortunate-income earners. It exposes many scandals that before had remained hidden from the publics eyes while at the same judgment of conviction urging for change (Jon Blackwell, n. d).The story is based on an emigrant family that moves to the United States, Chicago, in search of the American dream and prosperity only to be raped by the ruthless capitalist system. The whole family has migrated in to Chicago in the hope of a better life but the unscrupulous employers including corrupt officials gives the family no piece and they start dying one after the other. The working conditions of the stockyards in Chicago are intolerable. The home is exacerbated by rampant corruption that thrives. For one to get something done, it is a must that an official be bribed in the process.The key character in The Jun gle is one Jurgis and it is through him that the woes of the workers are brought to the fore. His family is on the verge of extermination as a string of deaths have caught the family. He is a troubled man and totally devastated by the employers and the farmers who keep turning employees away. This newfangled is a clear attack of industrialization and the intense mechanization of America. It portrays the troubled waning optimism of people especially the workers who have to survive a life of bondage and wage slavery.The daub of the jungle is on the hard conditions that workers in the Chicagos shopping centre factories have to undergo. Workers of all ages including women and children are being exploited. It gives a vivid account of how farmers were being ground after having fallen accidentally in to the processing tanks with the full knowledge of the owners of the factories. The Jungle caused a major row pitting the public, the government and meat processing factories. The cleanlin ess of the meat was in question. This novel had exposed much of the evils and the malpractices that were being subjected to the workers.Sinclair intent and purpose of the novel was mostly to be centered on the woes of the workers, it was just that the publics attention become focused more on the hygiene of the meat. The Meat Inspection Act for example was passed after this novel had brewed enough uproar. To Sinclair, The Jungle did not just contain empty words, but they had to be followed up by real actions. He sent a copy of the book to the then president, Theodore Roosevelt. His was not on the hygiene of the meat but kinda was on the wage slavery now dominant in American factories. The workers were being mistreated and ill paid.However the authoritys attention was not on the wage slavery but on the meat quality and hygiene. The working conditions of the workers were ignored and instead the investigators focused more on the cleanliness of the processing factories. This would bac ksheesh to his famous statement later to the effect that his works were intended to strike at the care of the bailiwick and rather not the stomach this indicates the passion through which Sinclair was committed to securing the welfare of the workers to a point that he would confront the powers that were on that point then.Roosevelt only agreed to respond to the meat factory allegations after immense pressure sensation from the civil societies including Sinclair himself. His efforts to secure the rights of the workers and improve their welfare can be seen in his campaigns for the seat of governor of California. His political ideology was being centered on the workers. His EPIC movement (End Poverty in California) was promising to lighten the situation of the workers (Deibre Donahue, 2006. ). The Flivver King, a story of Ford America a book by Upton Sinclair in 1937 also roused and sensitized the workers on the woes facing them in their workplaces.It traces the origin of the Ford Motor Company and how after it was conventional it was treating its employees well as it only employed qualified workers, its focus in on the scientific perplexity of the Ford Motor Company factories. After sometimes, the Ford Company took to breaking down the labor and introduced long suit meaning that even the low skilled workers could do the job with low pay (http//www. amazon. com/flivver-king-story-ford-america/dp/0882860542). This book traces how the Ford Company has over time phased out the skilled labor and in its place with the low skilled people and exploiting them.The workers in the Ford Company would wish to start a union but there were set backs as Fords spies are working to undermine their efforts each time they try to congregate. It explores how Ford was transformed in to selfishness by maintaining the same small pay but go on to wreak billions. This book was of great significance as it led to great inspirations to the workers and also led to the brass of the Unit ed Autoworkers Union. It would result to a wave of workers movements and unionization that hit the big companies in the 1940s.It indicates the harsh realities that the workers had to fight back with as they tried to form unions that would collectively agitate for their rights (Philip S. Foner, 1964). Upton Sinclair works are popular not for their qualities as novels but for their social impact. He is able to capture workers conditions and the low pay that characterized their remuneration. In the jungle he gives the heartrending details of stories of the workers who fell in to the vats and not being retrieved in time, they would die in there with no efforts by the factory owners to retrieve the bodies.These books went a great deal in inspiring the defining a workers union. By focusing at the problems facing the laborers, they were able to bring them together under a communality of purpose. The situation as it was in the factories for example in the, Ford Company, was that the owner s were not taking any efforts to liquify the workers interests lightly. The confrontations between the two would sometimes turn bloody. Unlike the communists who were expecting to push the ideas of the workers suffering down their throats, Sinclair takes a far much smoother approach through a well-researched story.The inspiration of Sinclairs works upon the foundation of the workers union in America cannot be underscored. They made a great deal in presenting the reality in the factories. The United Workers Union is one such labor movement alongside others that were directly inspired by the novel on the Ford Company.ReferenceWilliam J. helm, 1994. Upton Sinclair overview. In reference guide to American literature tertiary ed. Edited by Kamp. St James press. Amazon Com, 1996. The Flivver King A story of Ford America. Retrieved on http//www. amazon.com/flivver-king-story-ford-america/dp/0882860542 Jon Blackwell. 1906 rumble over The Jungle retrieved on 24/11/07 from http//www. capita lcentury. com/1906. html Jacob powers. Upton Sinclair, the flivver king. Retrieved on 24/11/07 from//upinmichagan. org/ver-sinclair. html Deibre Donahue, 06/23/2006. Radical Life, times of Upton Sinclair USA TODAY. Retrieved on 24/11/07 from http//www. usatoday. com/ife/books/eviews/2006-06-21-radical-innocent-x. htm Philip S. Foner, 1964. History of the labor movement in the United States. International publishers co.