The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Inspired by the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, Sinclair wrote this book to show the sufferings of the working class and to show the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early-20th century. The book writes about the poverty, bad living and working conditions, and sorrow among the working class. The sad state of turn-of-the-century work is placed for the American public to see, suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American "wage slavery". The novel is also an important example of the "muckraking" tradition begun by journalists such as Jacob Riis.