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"Scotty" Doyle

Character Analysis

We never actually meet this guy, but it's worth remembering his name: this is the Republican candidate who Mike Scully secretly arranges to win a city council election this year in exchange for Mike Scully's own triumph at the next election. Jurgis helps this guy win by fanning flames of resentment among his union buddies for the Democratic candidate, who is both a millionaire and Jewish. This is a period of strong anti-Semitism; the men in this novel all use racial epithets for Jews. So Jurgis takes advantage of this prejudice to help "Scotty" Doyle win. The election process in The Jungle is deliberately ugly because Sinclair wants to demonstrate that moderate politics is no solution to the social problems he exposes. Switching back and forth between Republican and Democratic candidates won't solve anything.