Immigrants in The Jungle

 The audience for The Jungle may seem obvious, Sinclair is writing to an American public to inform them of the ills of society. As a muckraker he exposes the truth of a situation and presents it in a naturalistic way. Naturalism "represented people in a deterministic and generally pessimistic light as products of heredity and environment" according to our class handout. All of this is true, I am not arguing that. I find it interesting that to make a statement to the American people, Sinclair chooses to present an immigrant family.

Immigrants in America were normally not accepted and were generally treated as lesser citizens. So I find it interesting that Sinclair would choose a family that many Americans were not willing to relate to. Upon careful thought though I think the choosing of an immigrant family was imperative to the piece and perhaps a more effective way to get his point across.

By choosing an immigrant family from Lithuania, Sinclair truly shows the limitations of the American dream. The blind hope and optimism that the family comes to America with is crushed as they run into corruption and horrible conditions. I think the fact that the family is at once filled with so much hope in the beginning and has no clue what American will bring them, shows a greater fall in the end. They do not fulfill the American dream instead they are jaded by societies ills. It also adds a level of embarrassment for Americans to read this and realize this is what there country is, and the impression it leaves on other people.

In the end the choice to present a Lithuanian family to an American audience was risky, but I think intentional and very effective in getting Sinclair's point across that the American dream is rather hollow and that capitalism ruins this dream.