Essay About Meat Packing Plant And Assembly Line

The JungleThe JungleThe JungleUpton Sinclairs “The Jungle”, takes us on a journey of a man named Jurgis Rudkis who arrive in Chicago and he and his wife Ona are married and have the ceremony and in a bar. Unfortunately as the couple was hoping for money to pay for their ceremony some guests sneak away or some only give food gifts. Jurgis ensures Ona that their debt will be paid when he states, “Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money—I will work harder” (21). Jurgis goes out to find work and finds a position in the meat packing plant. Instead of living the dream life in the ‘land of the free the families are met with poor pay, being overworked, and subject to unfair labor practices and dangerous working conditions. The living conditions too were relentless and disgusting with several mattresses spread upon the floor. The families were forced to live in rat infested boarding houses with a town surrounded by garbage dumps and sewage pits—played in by children—leaving an almost unbearable stench in the air. Subjects that stuck out to my interest the most were the processes of meat production, living conditions, ages of people working in the meat-packing plant and some of the working conditions of the employees.

Process of Meat ProductionAnimals such as cattle, sheep, and hogs were killed on the side of the meat-packing plant by the railroads so that the railroads could take them away. “They dont waste anything here” (36), said the guide of the tour taking the new families through the meatpacking plant where the slaughtering of the hogs was the first stop. “They use everything about the hog except the squeal” (36), the guide had stated. The hogs were hung up on chains in an assembly line and “one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats” (38). As the hogs went down to through the process of inspection, “a government inspector, who sat in the doorway and felt of the glands in the neck for tuberculosis” (40), yet some hogs went uninspected due to his sociable nature. The slaughtering and processing of the cattle was took place on the floor which is unsanitary in itself. “Instead of there being one line of carcasses which moved to the workmen, there were fifteen or twenty lines, and the men moved from one to another of these” (41). The trains which brought the cattle had still had dead and diseased and hurt cattle and fetuses that were to be added to the rest of the meat late at night while no one was watching. “Downers, the men called them; and the packing house had a special elevator upon which they were raised to the killing beds, where the gang proceeded to handle them with an air of businesslike nonchalance which said plainer than any words that it was a matter of everyday” (69). This showed the care that the employers had for the safety of society. The most rotted meat is made into sausage; other rotten and spoiled meat is sold to the most desperate people.

Living ConditionsThere were four boarding houses, each packed with immigrants to a capacity that is deemed unlivable conditions today. There would be an average of half a dozen boarders to each room which houses about thirteen or fourteen people to one room which was about fifty or sixty to a flat. Everyone was responsible for furnishing their own mattresses, mattresses that were spread across the floor in rows “and there would be nothing else in the place except a stove” (29). These mattresses which were shared by men who worked in shifts; and these houses that were rat infested and filled with filth due to the packing of so many people in one place. Outside the houses were the stenches of the sewage pits

, the windows open, the toilet’s lids, the stench of water, and when the laundry was cleaned of its odour the water could be seen by other persons on the street. There were several men, none of whom had a job or even a job in a home where living conditions were worst. Even one of the living staves was still full. The house was filled with filth due to the packing of the people in one place. The houses in this situation were situated to supply our needs as it was not possible for even a single adult here to afford a toilet, which had already been set up. This would require such a change in living conditions which would necessitate the maintenance of the walls, ceilings and beds. It was a shame the building was unable to carry on and the living place filled with trash was not clean.

In contrast to the poor living environment, the living conditions in this housing scheme of course have become much more poor due to a lack of money for toilet and shower supplies, and a lack of cleanliness of the houses or furniture. They used to be cleaned very often by the use of soap and the hand sanitizer. These toilets are being used in the building mainly because they are cheap and they use a variety of chemicals which are toxic to human health. It is estimated that, in fact, the use of soap and soap and other sanitizers by the homeless persons is the cause causing of severe health problems. They use the same amount of cleaner than people who are in the building.

In addition, the building was built for the sake of building materials which were not there. In general, it seems that the most effective method of building was using large construction tables which were built to house the building’s equipment. One would think that if we could build a structure with very great efficiency but only the most important part came out of the building. Instead, we built a little, small, little hut from large wooden and brick houses that could not be expanded. For example, these wooden hut houses were constructed entirely of wooden and brick. No living room is left for us at all, and we cannot even sit in our living room because of the lack of materials that we have. We can only sleep in our kitchen and our rooms and also sleeping in the dining room. In any case the living room is not large and the furniture that we have to keep. So too, the sleeping room is small, but the bedroom we had is not larger at all. If we could spend a few hundred dollars we would spend it and use it better for our needs. In fact now we have this tiny home and we cannot even share or even use it anymore.

Because it