Sinclair and Toth: Continuity in Society

The last two books that our class has studied, "The Mole People" and "The Jungle", by Jennifer Toth and Upton Sinclair respectively, deal with similar aspects of humanity's suffering. Despite almost a 90 year gap between their publications, they both describe the way in which whole groups of people can be trampled by society. The two authors, however, take very different issues to heart and present their ideas in quite different ways.

I believe part of the reason for this is the level of removal of the author. Toth is initially further removed from the people she studies but proceeds to delve so deeply into their lives that leaving them becomes quite difficult. Sinclair also gets first hand experience with the evils of society that he writes about but leads a life that is less removed in comparison, prior to success with "The Jungle" having been raised in a poor family. Toth spent a year investigating the tunnels, letting them slowly become more and more a part of her life. In contrast to this, Sinclair spent seven weeks within Chicago's meatpacking industry in order to write "The Jungle" on the payroll of journal owner.

Despite these differences, in both novels the audience is introduced to the idea that there are those who fall through the cracks of society and although they work hard cannot gain a footing with which to improve their situations. While the chapters of "The Mole People" each focus on different characters and aspects of tunnel life, "The Jungle" focuses on the plight of Jurgis Rudkos' family. Although no less influential (but perhaps more so) than "The Mole People", the subject matter of "The Jungle" is innately different from that of Toth's ethnography. We are able to see examples of the idea of 'exigency' by comparing these two writers and on what or how they choose to carry their points and critiques. The time periods that each take place in dictate the novelty that they hold for an audience. While far reaching effects of Sinclair's writing such as the passing of the laws such as the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1906) and the Meat Inspection Act (1906) helped quench some of the fears that assaulted the "public's... stomach" in his novel, many aspects, such as the plight of the immigrant were largely forgotten about. This is why the work of Toth is still necessary and even exigent -- because as Sinclair says in "What Life Means to Me", "the sheer horror" of some literature that "[makes] it true" also is what "[kills] it" (What Life Means To Me, Sinclair, 351). An uproar may occur in response to a writing, says Sinclair but without the inclusion of "human anguish" an audience receives nothing more than "sugar-coated sentimentality".


http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jupton.htm