Both Brecht's direct influence and the general vogue of anarchy and lawlessness—which were associated with America—were the potent ingredients which left their mark on Pankraz Awakens. (p. 84)

[For In the Jungle] Brecht derived his notions about America in general and Chicago in particular (as well as some of his imagery, themes and motifs) from two literary sources: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and J. V. Jensen's The Wheel…. [However,] the proximity of Brecht's early "Chicago and hinterland" was much closer to Zuckmayer's "Log cabin in the Far West" … than one would be inclined to assume…. Not surprisingly, Zuckmayer avoided an urban setting altogether; in his more conventionally realistic stage description of a rustic, if exotic, milieu which does not convey inner landscapes as do the Innenraum scenes of In the Jungle the future author of The Merry Vineyard shows his true colors. The similarity in the setting...