How did Sinclair “muckrake” for social reform in his novel “The Jungle”?
ms-mcgregor Teacher High School – 12th Grade eNotes Editor The term “muckraking” came from the idea that journalist were raking up the “muck” or dirt of society from the floor. In other words, their stories were “dirty” and really didn’t belong in respectable newspapers. Sinclair’s novel, “The Jungle” both literally and figuratively scraped material from the floor. Dressed as a slaughter house worker, he found he could go unquestioned almost anywhere in the meat-packing area of Chicago. What he found was detestable for many people. He found inspectors bribed to approve diseased cows and pigs, sausage made from scrapes of mean and other items swept off the floor, unsanitary conditions rampant in the factories. He included those details in his novel and meat sales plummeted. Eventually, the FDA was created to enforce clean meat packing practices. Thus, Sinclair did get some social reform by raking his evidence from the floors of Chicago factories but he never succeeded in his ultimate go
