In Sinclair's most graphic example of business abuse — the sweeping of poison, rats, and rat dung into the food vat — he is most likely employing a form of hyperbole, an extended exaggeration to make a point. Admittedly, abuses within the system existed, many conditions were unsanitary, and workers were apathetic; but Sinclair once again employs literary license to gain support for his characters and his political ideology.
As is the standard of naturalistic fiction, the stock characters in The Jungle are driven to drink or prostitution. In an industrialized society, no other options exist. Curiously, Jurgis blames marriage and sex for his woes and not the owners as he gradually begins to drink, succumbing to the temptations of alcohol. Alcohol becomes the solution for many of his problems for some time to come. Ona's prostitution is only foreshadowed, but its effects are evident. She becomes hysterical and breaks down often and is compared to a wounded animal. And the way of life in the jungle is that the wounded are destroyed and devoured.
