The Jungle Essay The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, clearly depicts the socio-economic strife and political turpitude that ushered America into the 20th century. While telling the story of Lithuanian immigrants struggling to survive in Chicago, Sinclair illustrates how avarice and ruthless competition were driving forces in the exploitational predatory capitalist ³jungle² of American ³society² at the turn of the century. This radical novel, described as muckraking by President Theodore Roosevelt, was a sounding board for pro-socialist politics. Sinclairıs polemic drama begins in the back room of a Chicago saloon. T