tyranny of democracy was when the minority ruled the

majority. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle gives the reader a great example of exactly this. A man who earns his living honestly and through hard work will always be trapped in poverty, but a man who earns his living through lies and cheating will be wealthy. The Jungle portrays a Lithuanian family stuck in a Capitalistic country. It shows the ongoing struggle of a lower class that will never get farther in life as long as the minority of rich people rule over them. The Jungle conveys a struggle between Capitalism and Socialism. Socialism is the best way out for the peasants, but a Capitalistic America has already trapped them.

When Jurgis Rudkus and his family first come to America, they do not know how it was run. Once Jurgis begins working in the stockyards, he finds out that the upper class dominates over the lower class. Supposedly America is a democratic nation, but this is not true. Capitalism rules the nation. The upper class bosses rule what goes on in the peasants lives. It is a form of slavery. Sinclair writes:

Things that were quite unspeakable went on there in the packing houses all the time, an

For the last few chapters of The Jungle, Jurgis fights with the Socialist party. He converts many to his side. Jurgis sees Socialism as a way to solve many problems. Sinclair writes, “...it was the task of Socialists to teach and organize them for the time when they were to seize the huge machine called the Beef Trust...” (317). The Socialists’ plan is to bring down Capitalism and run the Beef trust properly. They intend to change it and make actual food instead of figuring out how to make as a big a fortune as possible. One critic writes, “The Socialism he preached implied a human ability (collectively expressed) to master that system” (“The Jungle” 3096). The goal of the Socialists is exactly this. They plan to clean up the factory system and master it, to make it better and fairer.

Kazin, Alfred. On Native Grounds. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1942.

After “hoboing” around the country and going to jail, Jurgis comes across a man by the name of Jack Duane for the second time. It is now when he becomes involved with politics. Jurgis and Duane help to get votes. The system is full of corruption. Jurgis becomes a Democrat, but actually helps to get votes for the Republicans. Lies make up the government as a whole. One critic writes, “The democratic institutions which might have provided a means of change have all been bought off by the ‘Machine.’ The opportunity to ‘rise’ causes men to betray their fellow workers and countrymen” (“The Jungle” 3096). Democracy does not help anyone apart from its institution at this point in time. It helps few to rise, but causes many to betray others. The government corrupts society and those who work for it. Sinclair writes:

Van Doren, Carl. Contemporary American Novelists. New York: Macmillan, 1920.

Magill, Frank N. and Kohler, Dayton, eds. “The Jungle.” Masterplots. vol. 6. Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1976.

In Packingtown, Jurgis Rudkus and his family face many difficulties with the Capitalistic rule. The people take advantage of them and steal their money. When they first came to America, they had to pay many fees because they were foreigners and did not know better. Eventually, Jurgis decides to buy

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