Civilization and Capitalism (Essay Sample)

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Civilization and capitalism
Jurgis Rudkus in “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, a naive young immigrant from Lithuania to Chicago is a character used by Sinclair to build up on the theme of the evils of capitalism in the novel. Throughout the novel, Jurgis suffers under the hands of capitalist Americans until almost at the end of the novel, he does not only see the evils of capitalism, but also embraces socialism. Jurgis constant challenge with capitalism is best brought out through the treatment he undergoes under capitalist employers who have helped him kill his American Dream due to his naivety. Towards the end of the novel, Sinclair brings about the idea of socialism as an alternative to capitalism through Jurgis. Reinforcing the claim by Sigmund Freud in “Civilization and its Discontents” that: if private property were abolished, all wealth held in common, and everyone allowed to share in the enjoyment of it, ill-will and hostility would disappear among men (Freud 60).
The book starts with Jurgis at his veselija—a wedding feast in a hall at Packingtown near Chicago stockyards. The place is called so as this is the center of the meat-packing industry. The wedding is carried on according to the Lithuanian traditions. Oblivious of the fact that they are in Chicago, he follows Lithuanian traditions which have it that hungry people are let in the wedding to eat to their fill which Jurgis agrees with. Male guests mark the ceremony by forming a circle an each dances with the bride giving her some money to cater for the expenses of the wedding. This is the first instance that Jurgis displays his naivety and oblivion of the dishonest people in Chicago.
In the center stands the bride, and, one by one, the men step into the enclosure and dance with her. Each dances for several minutes... he drops a sum of money—a dollar, or perhaps five dollars, according to his power, and his estimate of the value of the privilege. The guests are expected to pay for his entertainment (Sinclair 15).
Jurgis’ guests however do not have money and they start leaving the party after eating to fill and without giving money. His wife Ona gets scared they might not get money to pay but Jurgis assures her he would work hard to pay the money.
Jurgis, together with other members had moved to the United States as immigrants in pursuit of the American dream of better paying jobs. Arriving at Chicago, things are quite different as they are directed to a miserable and overcrowded boarding house owned by a poverty-stricken woman where they would then spend almost their entire life. At first, finding a job is very hard for Jurgis even though he possesses qualities of a very abled man. He is very confident of his ability to work. Eventually he finds a job of cleaning the innards of slaughtered animals at the slaughterhouse.
It is at this point that Sinclair introduces us through Jurgis, his theme of capitalism and the challenges that Jurgis undergoes in his jobs. As Freud asserts;
Normally, there is nothing of which we are more certain than the feeling of our self, of our own ego. This ego appears to us something autonomous… (Freud 13).
Jurgis is very ambitious at the beginning when he goes to Chicago. He promises Ona that he is going to work hard when the guests leave without paying. In addition, he also advices Teta Elzbieta and the children not to work because the former is old and the children need to go to school. He feels that his ambitions are not limited by outside forces and that hard work will pay. Indeed, he works hard when he gets a job to be able to reach his goal. Jurgis is very oblivious of the fact that his life and thus his ambitions are controlled by the capitalist employers who takes advantage of their naivety to enrich themselves. This single aspect of living as an immigrant in Chicago renders his life in the United States a challenge. He gets little pay even though he works very hard in the butcheries and under very unhealthy conditions.
The control of the life of immigrants by the businessmen can be attributed to the notion of private property which drives them to want to accumulate more and more. Freud talks of private property as a driving force towards such aggression to want to own more and more. He says that
In abolishing private property we deprive the human love of aggression of one of its instruments (Freud 60).
Freud here implies that it is this kind of aggression that makes America unsuitable for the immigrants as they often do not have enough private property to harbor such power. Freud continues on to explain the connection between the poor working conditions of the health workers for the sake of profiting the employer when he asserts that…
…we have in no way altered the differences in power and influence which are misused by aggressiveness, nor have we altered anything in its nature. Aggressiveness was not created by property (Freud 60).
Meaning that; the natural tendency of aggression is aggravated by possession of property. As long as Jurgis and other immigrants are working to enrich the business men more, their status as immigrants deteriorates. This character is best illustrated by the saloonkeeper where he cons Jurgis in beer sales.
…when the time came he always came to you scratching his head and saying that he had guessed too low, but that he had done his best—your guests had gotten so very drunk. By him you were sure to be cheated unmercifully, and that even though you thought yourself the dearest of the hundreds of friends he had. (Sinclair 18).
As times goes, Jurgis’ life become increasingly difficult and he begins to realize how wrong he was about the American Dream. At some point he is unable to feed the entire family especially when Jonas disappears. This sees another sacrifice that Jurgis makes towards capitalism. To make the matters worse, he at some point while working sprains his ankle and is forced to stay without a job for three months. This is the point where capitalism demands most from him. His dreams are now shattered. He is desperate as he cannot make a living. Against his own principles, he has to let the children work so as to feed the family.
So it was finally decided that two more of the children would have to leave school... there was no reason why their family should starve when tens of thousands of children no older were earning their own livings (Sinclair 132).
Selling newspapers was also filled with difficulties as there were conmen as well as people who had demarcated “territories” where they only would sell newspapers. Capitalism here is manifested in a different aspect; the contrast between the minority who enjoyed the advantages of civilization and a majority who were robbed of those advantages (Freud 62). As fate has it, Jurgis as an immigrant is in the majority group. He is severely disadvantaged by civilization. Jurgis’ naivety also results into his irrational behavior especially when he beats up the children for being robbed. His ideals do not let him understand the wicked nature of the streets.
Chapters 14 through 20 are marked by Jurgis aggressive character. At first, he attacks Conor for raping Ona. He is then arrested and a farce judgment is made where he is sentenced to 30days in jail. His pleas to the judge that he is the family provider bears no fruits and while in jail, learns of the slew misfortunes that hits his family as a result. Connor has practically made it hard for the family to get jobs. Eventually, they are thrown out of the house they had bought since they were not ab...