Workers+in+Gilded+Age+America

The workers were severely mistreated. They had horrible working conditions that were unsanitary and unhealthy. Stable jobs for an immigrant were rare. “The poor old man was put to bed, and though he tried it every morning until the end, he never could get up again”(Sinclair 82). Like Antanas, many workers were either crippled severely or worked to death. These workers were immediately fired and replaced without a payment to help them out financially. Health conditions that employees develop on the job are a big influence. “Sometimes their faces froze, sometimes their feet and their hands; sometimes they froze all together- but still they came…”(Sinclair, 83). Such harsh settings lead to harsh outcomes. It handicaps workers or kills them do to the circumstances they are working with. Staying afloat in the 1900s was beyond challenging. People suffered losses of their jobs, limbs, and lives. Sinclair wrote //The Jungle// because he wanted sympathy for the people who sacrificed their lives to do the dirty work behind closed, locked doors.