The Muckrakers
The Age of Naturalism
• Many muckraking pieces are examples
from the Age of Naturalism (from 18951920)
• Not a rebellion against the Age of Realism
• More of an off-shoot of realism
• A new kind of realism, a natural and logical
extension of realism – more intense,
honest, and graphic, and darker mood
• Examined the bleak and gloomy underbelly of human
society
• Naturalist fiction often concentrated on non-Anglo,
ethnically marked inhabitants of the growing American
cities, many of them immigrants and most belonging to
a class-spectrum ranging from the destitute to the
lower-middle class
• Literature of degradation portraying exploitation and
human defeat by the forces of nature, society, and
modern economics
• Realists put their characters on a stage and let them
work out their own destinies, while Naturalists denied
their characters any free choice and made them “straws
in the wind”
The Muckrakers
• Among the first to articulate the new spirit of
reform … good ole crusading journalists
• In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many writers
focused on exposing corruption and exploitation
• Known as “muckrakers” after Theodore Roosevelt
accused one of raking up muck through his
writings
• Muckraker target … Starbucks … er …big business
• Some muckrakers worked on journalism and
straight documentary, while others worked in
fiction
• By the turn of the
century, many muckrakers
turned attention to
government
• McClure’s Magazine –
leading outlet for
muckraking articles
Founded by Samuel
McClure in June 1893
• Intention: To expose social and economic
scandals in the hope of promoting reform
• Reached their peak of influence in the first
decade of the twentieth century
• Investigated governments, labor unions, and
corporations
• Explored the problems of child labor, immigrant
ghettos, and prostitution
• Denounced waste and destruction of natural
resources, subjugation of women, and
occasionally the oppression of African Americans
• Muckrakers’ exposés reflected one important
aspect of emerging progressive sentiment … a
sense of outrage at social and economic injustice
Muckrakers raised awareness of the
exploitation of workers in the “machine age”
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)
– Exposed the horrors of the meatpacking
conditions in Chicago
– Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
– Meat Inspection Act (1906)
• The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida
Tarbell
– Ran in McClure’s in 1902
– Supreme Court dissolved the Standard Oil Trust in
1906
More muckrakers
• Wealth Against Commonwealth by Henry
Lloyds
– Attacked Standard Oil (1894)
• How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis (1890)
– Photographed NYC slums
• The Bitter Cry of Children by John Spargo
(1906)
– Detailed sweatshops and child labor
conditions
The Octopus
• Frank Norris
• March 5, 1870-October 25, 1902
• Originally wrote “The Octopus”
and intended it to be the first of a
trilogy titled “Epic of the Wheat”
• “The Octopus” would describe
the producer, “The Pit” would
describe the distributor, and “The
Wolf” would describe the
consumer (never written)
The Jungle
• Upton Sinclair
• Sept. 20, 1878-Nov. 25, 1968
• Most of his characters are
victims – vehicles he uses to
illustrate the social inequities
that concern him
• His novels strongly infused with
pessimistic determinism of
literary naturalism, seek to
expose the subjection capitalism
imposes on working people
Discussion Questions
1. How is S. Behrman characterized?
2. How does Norris create a feeling of sympathy towards
Behrman? Or rather, does he create any sympathy towards
Behrman?
3. How does Norris’ use of figurative language add meaning to
the story?
4. What major shifts are there in Norris’ piece?
5. What common values and assumptions do these works share?
6. What rhetorical appeals do muckrakers use to get their point
across?
7. Is one story more effective than the other? What gives you
that impression?
8. What issues are you aware of today that need the attention of
modern day muckrakers?
“Modern Muckrakers” & “The Most
Dangerous Job”
• “Modern Muckrakers”
1. Were there any insights that caught your attention as
you read through this article?
2. Did any particular muckrakers catch your attention or
interest?
• “The Most Dangerous Job”
1. Define the author’s style of writing for this piece. What
line(s) or passages give you this impression?
2. How is the author persuasive? Cite particular lines or
passages that support your idea.