Introduction The end of the nineteenth century and the first several decades of the twentieth were extremely difficult for the world and especially for the working class in terms of working conditions and wages. Inequality and corruption which were present in the society back then were appalling and resenting them could hardly change the situation. Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle tells a story of a family which moved from Lithuania to the United States in search of a better life but instead faced unemployment and unjust working conditions which they had to bear to survive. In The Jungle Sinclair presents a continual struggle between the rich and the poor which was so typical for the capitalist world; viewing this issue from the conflict theory perspective allows appreciating the significance of labor unions in the society ruled by capitalism. Conflict Theory Perspective The Jungle can be viewed from the perspective of conflict theory because it presents a vivid contrast between different classes of society. The conflict theory suggests that “social behavior is best understood in terms of a tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation” (Schaefer 16). The Jungle abounds with examples when people from lower social classes were subordinate to wealthier people, which resulted in the uneven allocation of resources, social injustice, and rich people getting wealthier at the cost of the poor ones. For instance, Antanas after long hunting for a job eventually got a chance to obtain it; a man offered him “to get him a job, provided that he was willing to pay one-third of his wages for it” (Sinclair 69). This, however, is not the only injustice described in this book. Another example is Mary, a woman whose working place Marija took as a result of unethical practice. Mary was fired because she missed one day at work due to her being ill, and her forelady did not even consider the fact that this woman had worked her job for fifteen years (Sinclair 72).This all led to people fighting for their rights and demanding equality. Capitalism and Class Differentiation Capitalism is another issue raised in The Jungle with its consequences for the society being discussed. Capitalism may be defined as “an economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits” (Schaefer 219). Marx distinguished between two main classes which existed in the capitalist society, namely, bourgeoisie (the capitalist class) and proletariat (the working class) (Schaefer 219). Division of society into these classes is vividly depicted in Sinclair’s The Jungle . The fact that Jurgis and other workers of the factory were exploited is evident. Sinclair criticizes capitalist economy describing how people worked “till nine or ten, or even twelve or one o’clock … without a single instant for a bite of supper” (Sinclair 103) and how terrible the conditions in which they worked were. At this, “after all the hard work a man did, he was paid for only part of it” (Sinclair 104). According to Marx, such differentiation and especially exploitation of proletariat could lead to the workers’ revolting