There are many examples of displacement in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Some of the examples include culture, language, gender, work, education, and family structure. The novel focuses on Jurgis and his family, which portray harsh conditions that immigrants faced in the United States, specifically in Chicago. Sinclair’s novel is a representation of the harsh reality of the American dream. The American dream is a belief that there is equality of opportunity for all Americans, especially the opportunity for prosperity and success. The story begins with the idea of migrating to the United States because Teta Elzbieta’s brother knew a man who immigrated to the U.S and made a fortune. The thought of success and wealth encouraged the family to work so they could pay for a new life in Chicago. When the family makes it to Chicago, they live in an overcrowded boarding house, smell rotting animal flesh, and see children picking through garbage dumps. This reality and want for the American dream begin their unfortunate journey of displacement.

Jurgis and his family are accustomed to their Lithuanian culture and language. The family has entered a new country without speaking the language or know anything about the culture. Their status as immigrants makes it easier for people to trick the family into exploiting their desire for cheap labor. Jurgis and other members of the family are excited to work so that they can have a comfortable life. This excitement is used to the advantage of their bosses. Jurgis is able to find a job right away because of his tall stature and built. He can make a little over two dollars for twelve hours of work. Marija gets a job painting labels on cans for two dollars a day. Jurgis expects the children to attend school since education is free for children. Jurgis sees this as an advantage that can allow the children to have a better future. Although the family is not in their country of origin, they are making the best out of their opportunities in the United States. Immigrants are seen as prey and are stuck in the vicious cycle that continually keeps them in poverty. All families are experiencing the same thing in Packingtown and Chicago. They immigrated to the United States in hopes of a better future and to find a job, but are scammed into purchasing a home, losing their jobs, and suffering from injuries that cause them to lose their job and eventually losing their home.

Misfortune continues to follow the family as Jurgis sprains his ankle and cannot work for three months. Since he is the breadwinner of his home, everyone is sent out to work, including the children. Taking the children out of school is a big decision because Jurgis was excited to send them to receive a free education. As an immigrant, you do everything you can to give your kids and future generations as much as possible so that they have a better future. That is part of the reason as to why Jurgis decided it would benefit the family to leave Lithuania and come to the United States. The two young boys are sent out to be newspaper boys. The boys quickly adapt to their new roles, but it takes a toll on their attitudes. Jurgis is forced to return them to school because he did not like how the kids were acting. Although Jurgis realizes that the family needs help financially, he also realizes that he cannot let the boys follow a bad path. Following a bad path is against the American dream because you sacrifice so much just for nothing to be achieved.

This novel shows the truth behind the glorified American dream. As someone who can relate to this, it continues to be bad. It takes multiple generations to make a reasonable life.

Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyocoan, Mexico City, Mexico. She grew up in her family home, which later became la Casa Azul, where she lived there with her husband, Diego Rivera. Her father was born in Germany and immigrated to Mexico, where he met Frida's mother.

At the age of 6, Frida contracted polio. The disease caused her right leg and foot to grow thinner than her left one. She would wear long skirts to cover her deformity. She attended National Preparatory School in Mexico City in 1922. During this time, she met Diego Rivera. He was working on a mural called The Creation and she would often watch him as he worked and told her friends that she would marry Rivera.

On September 17, 1925, she was involved in a severe bus accent that left her with a fractured spine and pelvis. A steel handrail also impaled her through her hip which later resulted in her having multiple miscarriages. She had to wear a full-body cast for three months and to pass the time she began to paint. Her parents were very supportive and made a special easel so that Frida could paint in bed.

Frida reconnected with Rivera in 1928. She asked him to evaluate her work and made such a strong impression that he stopped his work and encouraged her to continue painting. They made a vow to only be friends, comrades, and coworkers. That did not last as they started a romantic relationship and were married in 1929. Since Rivera was such a well-known artist, she had to travel with him to the United States, a country she disliked.

Frida first came to the United States in 1930 with her husband. Rivera had received multiple commissions for murals in several cities. During her time in the United States, she suffered numerous miscarriages. Frida and Diego moved to San Francisco, California, so that Diego could commission two murals at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Pacific Stock Exchange. After completing his murals, they returned to Mexico for five months and then traveled to New York. Frida did not focus much on her work when she first came to the United States. She was not seen as an artist to Americans. She was seen as a typical wife. Frida took on the role of a housewife, which caused her to not focus on work and put all of her attention into helping her husband. She put her brushes down and picked up an apron. While in New York, Frida created Frida and Diego Rivera, which became her first piece of art exhibited in the United States.

That following year, they moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she suffered a miscarriage and spent thirteen days at the Henry Ford Hospital. Not long after being discharged from the hospital, she received a telegram informing her that her mother was dying. She soon returned to Mexico. During her time in Detroit, she completed Henry Ford Hospital, Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States, and My Birth. Not long after her mother’s death, Frida returned to the United States. In 1933, Rivera received a Rockefeller Center commission to paint a mural, so they returned to New York. In the mural, Rivera portrayed Lenin, which caused problems. The mural commission was revoked, and the couple returned to Mexico.

The Mexican Communist Party was founded in 1919. When Frida attended school, she became a member of Los Cachuchas, a campus-based radical group named after the hats they wore in rebellion against the dress code of the period. Los Cachuchas read Karl Marx as well as Vladimir Lenin. She joined the youth group of the Mexican Communist Party before she was 16 and then joined the Mexican Communist Party in her early 20’s even though the party was outlawed from 1925 to 1935. She was very active and wrote and gave speeches, attended meetings, and led union rallies.

Frida did not have a great time in the United States due to her not prioritizing her art and suffering multiple miscarriages. While in the United States, she also saw racism and poverty. As a believer in communism, everything she saw only made her belief stronger. In Self Portrait Along the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States, you can see Frida’s struggle of wanting to return home. She sufferers from displacement because the United States and American culture go against her identity and her belief. She is clearly showing that she is Mexican and will always keep and carry her Mexican roots proudly. Frida was in Detroit when she created this painting which is represented by the pipes spelling out Ford. She is wearing a traditional Mexican dress and has her hair in a Mexican style. The Mexican flag she is holding in her left hand represents her loyalty to her home country. She depicts herself being stuck between two worlds, the American industrialization with skyscrapers and inventions, and ancient Mexico. The ancient Mexico half includes temple ruins, fertility figures, a figure of death, and plants growing to represent life. She constantly wanted to return to Mexico when she was in the United States. She had to become someone she was not when she first arrived in the United States. Her Mexicanness is her identity. She had to break away from that identity when coming to industrialized America.

The stone that she stands on in this portrait says "Carmen Rivera painted her portrait in 1932". She also suffered a miscarriage that same year which was also a huge decision in wanting to return to Mexico.