The Gist: Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope the week off has given you some time to read up on The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I know this is a tougher read, but it's not too long of a book, and I find it quite interesting. The first chapters of the book introduce the main characters—two Lithuanian families who have recently immigrated to America in the early 20th century. The story focuses on Jurgis Rudkus' point of view, who is a younger man and gets a job almost instantly in a Chicago slaughterhouse due to his stature. The first chapter tells of the wedding, or veselija, between Jurgis and Ona Lukoszaite, which is a happy time, but also quite stressful due to the high cost of marriage and the fact that both of the families are impoverished. The second chapter jumps back in time before the marriage and talks about the voyage from Lithuania to Chicago of the two families, and their settling into an overcrowded boardinghouse. The third chapter takes the family on a tour of the stockyards, where they observe the slaughtering of pigs and cattle. Sinclair goes into a good amount of detail about the process and how tens of thousands of animals are killed per day. In the fourth and fifth chapters, the family buys a home, even though it will take them many years to actually pay it off. The chapters also describe Jurgis' new job at the slaughterhouse where his duties are to sweep the entrails of slaughtered cattle into trap doors. He is proud of the job, and is actually surprised when he learns that other workers hate theirs. He refuses to join a union, which is asking for a reduction in the pace of the work. At the end of chapter five, he observes downer cows and calf fetuses being killed secretly and packed with the rest of the meat, which does disturb him.The Discussion: This is definitely a heavier book, and not always easy to read, especially the parts that describe the slaughter of animals. It was a very important book for its time, and is still pertinent today. Here are a couple of discussion questions for the first five chapters. I look forward to chatting with you!
1. Being a classic, this book seems very academic to me, since it depicts a part history in a very realistic way, but it's rarely included as required reading for students. Do you think there would be an increase in teenagers going vegetarian if this book were assigned reading?
2. Sinclair originally wrote this book to go against capitalism and to depict the abuse of humans. Do you think he was aware of or acknowledged the abuse of animals?
The Assignment: Please read chapters 6 to 16 for our discussion on September 13.
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
Unfortunately, I do not think that most people think about what goes into their food. They are not told how food, especially animal slaughter, occurs. They turn a blind eye to what little they do know and assume the government does right by them. They are not aware of how little regulations there are and what little regulation we do have is followed.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea how bad it was. I was not raised in an area that had vegetarians, especially vegans. Being a compassionate person, one day I thought about it and decided to investigate and boy was I surprised at everything I found. I stopped eating meat and became vegan, even though I have no friends or relatives who are. They support me and have made some changes themselves but mostly I do it alone. I even have to drive an hour just to get to a Whole Foods grocery store and I order a lot online.
I say this because I wish I had known when I was a teenager, if I had had that book on my advanced reading list, it would have changed me sooner. So yes I do believe that if this book were assigned reading more teenagers would go vegetarian at least. Teenagers should be informed of slaughterhouse practices and how their food ends up on their plate and I believe they want to know and teenagers are strong people who do things they believe in and do not waste time. Unlike older people who are more set in their ways.
I think Sinclair was aware of the abuse of animals, however I think he was more interested in workers fighting for their rights to have better working conditions. In the third chapter he describes how some people are upset about the abuse and even mentions a heaven for hogs where they were requited for their suffering and each of them had an individuality of their own, a will, a hope and desire in their heart. Each animal was full of confidence, self importance and dignity. Despite all it's protests though the animal would still die. So even though I do not think his intent was to have such a significant impact on the public view of
slaughterhouse conditions (meat consumption dropped drastically after the novel came out) I do believe he had to be very aware of it.However he was dismayed that people spoke out for the animals and not the people. The public, thank goodness, saw the deception of the industry and the helpless animals who could not speak for themselves.
Unfortunately, we need another such outcry because it is still as bad as it is depicted in THE JUNGLE.
Unfortunately, I do not think that most people think about what goes into their food. They are not told how food, especially animal slaughter, occurs. They turn a blind eye to what little they do know and assume the government does right by them. They are not aware of how little regulations there are and what little regulation we do have is followed.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea how bad it was. I was not raised in an area that had vegetarians, especially vegans. Being a compassionate person, one day I thought about it and decided to investigate and boy was I surprised at everything I found. I stopped eating meat and became vegan, even though I have no friends or relatives who are. They support me and have made some changes themselves but mostly I do it alone. I even have to drive an hour just to get to a Whole Foods grocery store and I order a lot online.
I say this because I wish I had known when I was a teenager, if I had had that book on my advanced reading list, it would have changed me sooner. So yes I do believe that if this book were assigned reading more teenagers would go vegetarian at least. Teenagers should be informed of slaughterhouse practices and how their food ends up on their plate and I believe they want to know and teenagers are strong people who do things they believe in and do not waste time. Unlike older people who are more set in their ways.
I think Sinclair was aware of the abuse of animals, however I think he was more interested in workers fighting for their rights to have better working conditions. In the third chapter he describes how some people are upset about the abuse and even mentions a heaven for hogs where they were requited for their suffering and each of them had an individuality of their own, a will, a hope and desire in their heart. Each animal was full of confidence, self importance and dignity. Despite all it's protests though the animal would still die. So even though I do not think his intent was to have such a significant impact on the public view of
slaughterhouse conditions (meat consumption dropped drastically after the novel came out) I do believe he had to be very aware of it.However he was dismayed that people spoke out for the animals and not the people. The public, thank goodness, saw the deception of the industry and the helpless animals who could not speak for themselves.
Unfortunately, we need another such outcry because it is still as bad as it is depicted in THE JUNGLE.
sorry for same comment under different names but it said it did not take the first one, but apparently it did.
ReplyDeleteCannot read this book! We read an excerpt in junior high & it turned me vegetarian. Ten years later I went vegan...ten years after that looking at the book still makes me shudder!
ReplyDeleteHello! I read this book a little while back, I would have reread it as a refresher if I had known it was being discussed here!
ReplyDeleteI think that if this book were required reading (which I feel it should be, the Jungle is an amazing novel) more teens would look into vegetarianism and animal rights. I feel that it would also make them more aware of social injustice and how detrimental class systems are to society, activism of all kinds likely would be inspired.
While Sinclair did focus mainly on the struggle of the humans in his story, animal rights were definetly observed as well. The way he detailed the grisly transport and slaughtering of the animals shows he acknowledged the terrible plight of "food animals" as well as factory workers.
I almost wrote more and realized that this discussion is only up to chapter 5, I'll dig out my copy so I can post more on the next discussion!
I was interested to read this book again, because I actually had it as required reading for a high school history class. Turning the pages now as a vegan, I'm shocked to think that it didn't have more of an impact on me back then. Any discussion of the horror in the slaughterhouse that I remember focused on the symbolic connection between the suffering of the animals and the human suffering of the working class. The idea that Sinclair cared about the suffering of the animals themselves was never considered. I cant say whether the teacher steered us in that direction or if it just reflected the culture of our town (the concept of veganism was completely foriegn.) Reading now I would like to hope that teaching this book would lead to more teenagers going veg, but from experience I know it would not necessarily be the case.
ReplyDeleteA century has passed. We went from "no flight" to putting a man on the moon in just 66 years and yet the same horrors of the meat industry continue today. I was shocked that "downers" were an issue then, and still are today. I was also stunned with all the commodities made out of animal parts back then, just as it is today. There is still a market for gelatin and isinglass and pepsin. Inspectors (albeit through the USDA) are also just as toothless now as they appear back then. Yes, I think more teenagers would become vegetarian if they were required to read The Jungle. It is, unfortunately, just as relevant today as it was back in 1906. And yes, I believe Sinclair acknowledged the abuse of animals. He did not have to empathize with animals to make his point about capitalism, but he did ferociously, recognizing the individuality and will of each unique pig.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, and thanks for your thoughts so far! This book has definitely incited some passionate comments, which I think is important. It is quite interesting—not to mention, sad—to see the similarities between 1906 and today, as a couple of you mentioned. I look forward to reading more of your comments, and I'll wrap this week's discussion up this Friday.
ReplyDelete~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig