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4 A Streetcar Named Desire STUDENT COPY STUDY GUIDE Scene II Vocabulary absconding – running away, usually after having stolen something airily – in a light or frivolous manner atomizer – a type of spray dispenser that turns liquids (perfume, in this usage) into a fine mist fornications – sexual acts gander – a look improvident – careless, reckless, irresponsible. Culinary Study Guides C-2 Copyright ©Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Contents, continued PAGE Chapter 9—Equipment & Technology 9.
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideasexplored in a literary work.
Socialism as a Remedy for the Evils of Capitalism
The main theme of The Jungle is the evilof capitalism. Every event, especially in the first twenty-sevenchapters of the book, is chosen deliberately to portray a particularfailure of capitalism, which is, in Sinclair’s view, inhuman, destructive,unjust, brutal, and violent. The slow annihilation of Jurgis’s immigrantfamily at the hands of a cruel and prejudiced economic and socialsystem demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working classas a whole. As the immigrants, who initially possess an idealisticfaith in the American Dream of hard work leading to material success,are slowly used up, tortured, and destroyed, the novel relentlesslyillustrates that capitalism is to blame for their plight and emphasizesthat the characters’ individual stories are the stories of millionsof people. The Jungle is not a thematically nuancedor complicated novel: capitalism is simply portrayed as a totalevil, from its greedy destruction of children to its cynical willingnessto sell diseased meat to an unsuspecting public. Sinclair opts notto explore the psychology of capitalism; instead, he simply presentsa long litany of the ugly effects of capitalism on the world.
In Sinclair’s view, socialism is the cure forall of the problems that capitalism creates. When Jurgis discoverssocialist politics in Chapter 28, it becomesclear that the novel’s attack on capitalism is meant to persuadethe reader of the desirability of the socialist alternative. Whensocialism is introduced, it is shown to be as good as capitalismis evil; whereas capitalism destroys the many for the benefit ofthe few, socialism works for the benefit of everyone. It is evenspeculated that a socialist state could fulfill Christian morality.Again, there is no nuance in the book’s polemic: The Jungle’sgoal is to persuade the reader to adopt socialism. Every aspectof the novel’s plot, characterization, and conflict is designedto discredit the capitalist political system and illustrate theability of a socialist political system to restore humanity to thedowntrodden, exploited, and abused working class.
The Immigrant Experience and the Hollowness of theAmerican Dream
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Because the family that Sinclair uses to represent thestruggle of the working class under capitalism is a group of Lithuanianimmigrants, the novel is also able to explore the plight of immigrantsin America. Jurgis, Teta Elzbieta, and their family come to America basedon the promise of high wages and a happy, good life. From the outset,they maintain an unshakable faith in the American Dream—the ideathat hard work and morality will yield material success and happiness.But Sinclair exposes the hypocrisy of the American Dream as thefamily members attempt to plug themselves into this naïve equation:virtually every aspect of the family’s experience in Packingtownruns counter to the myth of America to which they subscribe. Insteadof a land of acceptance and opportunity, they find a place of prejudiceand exploitation; instead of a country where hard work and moralitylead to success, they find a place where only moral corruption,crime, and graft enable one to succeed materially.
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Because he wants his readers to sympathize with Jurgis,Sinclair goes to great lengths to ensure that this immigrant familydoesn’t seem alien or foreign to the American mind. He repeatedlyemphasizes that their values of hard work, family togetherness,honesty, and thrift are those of the American reading public. Sinclairdoesn’t attack the American Dream; instead, he uses the disintegrationof the family to illustrate his belief that capitalism itself isan attack on the values that support the American Dream, which haslong since been rendered hollow by the immoral value of greed.