Genre = Novel, History
Elaborate Description
Jed Rusher was born in cattle-country but had his eye set on those who were privileged enough to ride trains. Due to circumstance, his older sister Liza had to take care of her three younger siblings. Liza dotted on Jed the most and had great expectations of him. Opportunity arose to move to sugar-beet planation but that was a temporary boon. Earning a free scholarship at his high school, Jed went to university. When his university was in dire circumstance and needed funding, everyone was asked to try and obtain donations. With this aim, he went to a rich family of Warrener. Although the university would not accept Warrener request for his money, Jed was able to talk his way into Warrener’s graces. Within these conversations he was able to obtain wealth, power, knowledge, and a wife. Becoming the president of an oil company.
This is not a narrative with that many shocking moments. It just shows an unrelenting rise of a person from a poor laborer to a rich person. Sinclair shows the frenzy around social standings of the rich even though the rich make their money through other means than what is published. Legal and finical manipulation are the norm of this book. The different backgrounds people come from show themselves in how they view everything, how they behave, and their expectations. The books theme is a question, can moral righteousness be aligned with money and power? This is a question Jed has to struggle with in order to achieve his aims in becoming and maintaining a rich standing.
Book Details
Pages to read: 399
Publication: 2010
1st Edition: 1930
Format: Paperback
Ratings out of 5:
Readability 4
Content 3
Overall 3
