The Jungle
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The first naturalists? dealt with the uglier side of life. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, exhibits naturalism and the belief that people are driven by powerful and blind biological urges. Just as realist?s are unconcerned with absolutes or ideals, The Jungle and naturalism takes that one step further , where people are subject to, and the victims of natural law.
The wedding in the beginning of the book shows not only the harmonious part, but the downfalls, also, of what is supposed to be the most memorable day of ones life. The parents, with barely any money themselves, had to provide for their daughter to have the wedding of her dreams. ? Those frightful bills- how they had haunted her each time gnawing at her soul all day and spoiling her rest at night.? Weddings, are not just a cup of tea, and naturalists become concerned with the actual fact that weddings are just a financial burden on a family and should be done, not when wanted, but when necessary and convenient. It takes long days of planning and a lot of money. The Jungle shows that there are other things going through a bride?s mind in the midst of all of the happiness around her, Weddings are beautiful- but what makes them beautiful is what lays behind it.
Jurgis? family came from the country, in a land called The Imperial Forest. ?This is a great tract of a hundred thousand acres, which from time immemorial has been a hunting preserve of the nobility.? The Imperial Forest was a part of Lithuania known as Brelovicz. Jurgis believed that being from the country benefited him and his naturalistic qualities. ? It is plain that you have come from the country and from very far in the country.? Naturalists are usually observant and hard working, as was Jurgis, and his employers loved that quality in him.
? They told him stories about the breaking down of men, there in the stockyards of Chicago, and of what had happened to them afterward. Stories to make your flesh creep? Jurgis laughed off the stories of Chicago as folk tales. He hoped in his head that the rumors were only that. And since he did not think of them as true, he had no idea what was in store for him or his family when they reached Chicago.
When they arrived in Packingtown, Chicago, Jurgis