The American dream is the traditional social ideals of the US, such as equality, democracy, and material prosperity. It is a life where people achieve happiness; this is done through risk taking, sacrifice, and hard work. In the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, it shows that the American dream is very difficult if not impossible to achieve for many immigrants such as the Lithuanians. One Lithuanian, Jurgis Rudkus believes the American dream is not having a lot of money, but rather having the ability to provide for his family, and to give them the best life he can. Jurgis hopes that through hard work and honesty he can gain the American dream, but he does not know that the American dream is dictated by naturalism and corruption. Soon after migrating to Chicago he discovers the houses, jobs, food, and seasons will keep him from achieving his American dream. Their first encounter with corruption within the system happened when Jurgis and his family moved to a place called Packingtown in Chicago. Where the houses are set up in rows for miles. The houses were like animals all packed together. The houses were very ugly and dirty looking. They were also built on an old landfill. The streets contained “stinking green water and swarms of flies”(Sinclair 33). The family figures with all their wages they can afford a house, so on a Sunday morning the whole family sets off to see their new house. The agent meeting them at their house talked quickly to keep them from asking too many questions about the property and the neighborhood. After seeing the house they bought they are a little disappointed because it does not resemble the home they saw earlier in the week. “Ona's heart sank, for the house was not as it was shown in the picture; the color scheme was different, for one thing, and then it did not seem quite so big. Still, it was freshly painted, and made a considerable show. It was all brand-new, so the agent told them, but he talked