History YMMV / TheJungle

* JerkassWoobie: Jurgis. He would've been a completely sympathetic character, but Upton Sinclair shows how the abusive environment of Packingtown and Chicago twists his relationship with his wife into something abusive as well as his relationship with the rest of his family, particularly his nephew, child Stanislovas, who he frequently beat because of his fear of the cold. He eventually [[HeelRealization looks back and admits to himself that he wasn't always the best husband]], and uncle.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The book piles so much angst and trauma onto Jurgis and his family (especially poor Ona, who [[DeathByChildbirth dies giving birth]] to a stillborn baby that may or may not have been [[ChildByRape her rapist's child]]) that it can invoke this reaction from readers, especially if they're high school or college students assigned to read it.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: It is one of the grimmest depictions of Gilded Age America. And thus one of the most memorable.

* JerkassWoobie: Jurgis. He would've been a completely sympathetic character, but Upton Sinclair shows how the abusive environment of Packingtown and Chicago twists his relationship with his wife into something abusive. He eventually [[HeelRealization looks back and admits to himself that he wasn't always the best husband]].

* AccidentalAesop: The book was intended to highlight the poor treatment of workers in packing plants, but the descriptions of what was going into the nation's food were so disgusting as to cause the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act. As Sinclair himself put it: "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."

* {{Anvilicious}}: The book pulls no punches in its condemnation of capitalism. The protagonist Jurgis goes through nearly every possible worst-case scenario a working-class citizen of his time can possibly fear, with his child even drowning in the muddy streets, and Sinclair's intent becomes quite clear in the final chapters, which attempt to set up the Socialist party as saviors.

* MisaimedFandom: The book set out to promote socialism and ended up inspiring regulations being put on the meat industry instead. [[TropesAreTools That's not to say that the implementation of food safety measures is a bad thing.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The book piles so much angst and trauma onto Jurgis and his family (especially poor Ona, who [[DeathByChildbirth dies giving birth]] to a stillborn baby that may or may not have been her rapist's child) that it can invoke this reaction from readers, especially if they're high school or college students assigned to read it.