Oil!

What It's About

Set in the Southern California oil fields of the early twentieth century, the novel follows Bunny Ross, son of self-made oil tycoon James Arnold "Dad" Ross. As Bunny grows up in his father's shadow, moving between oil derricks and high society, his friendship with Paul Watkins, the son of a poor and fanatically religious farming family, opens his eyes to the exploitation of the men who make his father's fortune possible. Spanning the First World War and into the Harding administration, the story tracks Bunny's growing sympathy for socialist and labor causes as he witnesses strikes, political manipulation, and the corruption later exposed as the real-life Teapot Dome scandal, forcing him to weigh loyalty to his father against his own conscience.

Key Concepts

The novel is Sinclair's satirical dissection of capitalism versus socialism, dramatising the conflict between labour and industry through the personal relationship of two young men from opposite backgrounds. It draws directly on the Teapot Dome scandal and was loosely inspired by real oil baron Edward L. Doheny, using fiction to expose the collusion between big business and government. As a coming-of-age story, it also traces Bunny's political and moral education as he's pulled between the comfortable, complicit world of wealth and a growing commitment to social justice.

About the Author

Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) was an American novelist, journalist, and political activist, born in Baltimore, Maryland. A committed socialist for much of his life, he became known as a muckraker for his exposés of American industry and politics, and he later ran, unsuccessfully, for Governor of California. He died in 1968 at the age of ninety.