Question

bread out for them, they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together. this is no fairy story and no joke; the meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one – there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. there was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage. there were the butt - ends of the waste of the plants, that would be dumped into old barrels in the cellar and left there. under the system of rigid economy which the packers enforced, there were some jobs that it only paid to do once in a long time, and among these was the cleaning out of the waste barrels. every spring they did it; and in the barrels would be dirt and rust and old nails and stale water – and cart load after cart load of it would be taken and dumped into the hoppers with fresh meat, and sent out to the public’s breakfast. some of it they would make into “smoked” sausage – but as the smoking took time, and was therefore expensive, they would call upon their chemistry department, and preserve it with borax and color it with gelatin to make it brown. all of their sausage came of the same bowl, but when they came to wrap it they would stamp some of it “special,” and for this they would charge two cents more a pound.

• what do you think sinclair was trying to accomplish by writing this novel?
• how would you react if something like this were published today?

Explanation:

Sinclair likely aimed to expose the unsanitary and unethical practices in the meat - packing industry to spur social and regulatory change. If published today, it would likely spark public outrage, calls for stricter regulations, and increased scrutiny of food - production processes.

Answer:

• Sinclair was trying to expose the horrible working and production conditions in the meat - packing industry to bring about reform.
• If published today, there would be public outcry, demands for better food - safety regulations, and more transparency in the food industry.