I aimed at the public's heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach.
Radical Innocent, 83.
This quote, spoken by Upton Sinclair, demonstrates the author's disappointment that the political point of his novel was overshadowed by the public's outcry over food production. Sinclair had meant for The Jungle critique capitalist economies. His goal had been to move the public to identify with the harsh realities of the working class and to garner sympathy for socialist viewpoints.
Instead, the country became outraged over the methods of food production. Sinclair's novel graphically illustrates the unsanitary and unethical standards by which meat was produced in the United States. The public was outraged that the government did not do more to protect the public and to maintain sanitation standards. This outcry eventually led to the Pure Food and Drug Act. The public was less concerned, however, with the treatment of meatpacking workers in
