Date of Award

5-1936

Degree Type

Bachelors Essay

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Literatures, Languages, and Cultures

First Advisor

James Mark Purcell

Abstract

The intention of this thesis is to discuss the art of Upton Sinclair. With the conception of art in literature as we know it, in mind, and also a general idea of the type of writing Mr. Sinclair has done, the orthodox association of art and literature in this case seems hardly compatible. Many critics question the existence of any art at all in Sinclair’s writings, and in their interpretation call it by other names. If his works had cause in effecting a desired result, there should be no reason to bar his writings from the category of art. His error in assuming his conclusions from analyses of the specific and applying them to the general, as is a marked characteristic, is quite obviously the reason that led critics to taunt both his person and his art. For his enormous literary production that sang the song of Socialism as the doctrine to eleviate social injustice, he was condemned. Notwithstanding the aliases by which he and his works are known, it is my sincere desire to present Upton Sinclair as an artist, and his work as art.

The selected novels are typical of Upton Sinclair’s method of preaching his socialistic doctrine. For the reason that they are prolonged expressions of his doctrine, the question of selectivity to any particular novel as a basis for analysis is not of particular importance. The five novels which I have chosen for an analysis of his art have determined the range and limit of this discussion.

Comments

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts of Marquette University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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