The Jungle

In addition to elements of naturalism, Sinclair incorporates a variety of muckraking techniques. The muckrakers were writers who used non-fiction — particularly facts, figures, and laws — to support their beliefs and reveal abuses in business and government in their publications. Muckraking novels, also known as social protest novels, exist to expose conditions that need to be changed. When muckraking novels move from exposing faults to advocating a particular method as the only means for change, they're considered propaganda. Although most critics regard The Jungle as propaganda, it differs from most propaganda novels whose authors readily concede bias. Sinclair considers his work more than just a means to an end; that is, he felt he was creating quality literature that simultaneously served as propaganda promoting socialism. Sinclair's political views and portrayal of life in the slums alienated many readers who were uncomfortable reading about the realities of being poor, yet only in the final four chapters of The Jungle does Sinclair's socialist propaganda take control of his narrative. Critics who routinely dismiss The Jungle as propaganda are as guilty of misreading Sinclair's work as those who consider it only a muckraking novel about the meatpacking industry.