Cather Naturalism

John Steinbeck 's novel Of Mice and Men is a famous Naturalist work in American literature. Various elements of Naturalism is exhibited in this novel through its character types and story plot. Charles Darwin, an English Naturalist proposed a theory called natural selection, meaning that nature selects the best adapted varieties to survive and reproduce. Darwin also identified this theory as survival of the fittest. Steinbeck incorporated this belief of natural selection in many instances throughout Of Mice and Men using characters and their circumstances. One character named Candy has an injury and is old in age. They were leading factors in his fear of being unemployed. His dog’s old age and uselessness also resulted in its death.

Taking a deeper look into a story can help a reader see and understand a story better. By looking into a story, the little details stand out about the characters. The reader can understand so much better when reading between the lines. By reading between lines the reader can learn more about the characters in the story and understand them better. Also the setting in the story is more clear and easier to see. When taking a farther look into the story, the conflicts the character face make more sense. Every word an author puts in a story is important. So by knowing the symbols with in the story help the reader understand why it is there. In Willa Cather’s short story, Paul’s Case, allows readers to see the themes more clearly and

Cather has three philosophies in the book “O’ Pioneers” that include Naturalism, Romanticism, and Realism. In the book I believe Cather appeared to seem more for Naturalism because in Alexandra Bergson, the main character in the book who took over her father’s land when he died and the land had became a big part in the book.

From as early as 408 B.C.E., iterations of the adage ‘misery loves company’ have appeared in written texts. First attributed to Sophocles in Athens, this popular dictum has traveled far from Greece, and has found itself at the core of Ethan Frome. In Edith Wharton’s tragic novella Ethan Frome (1911), the titular protagonist’s infliction of suffering encompasses the key principles of Naturalism. Illustrating this, Ethan forces Zeena, his wife, to disengage from her environment and retreat into silence. Further, he recklessly pursues Mattie, Zeena’s exuberant cousin, and dulls the radiance which first attracted him. And as the final nail, Ethan cages himself in obligation, desperately rattling its bars, but never stepping past them.

It causes the reader to perhaps question their own decision making and shows the author’s avoidance of romanticism. Using romantic appeal takes away from the intentions of the story; Furthermore, this intention being the sacrifice of love to another being and, instead, to the appeal of nature.

    Challenging the strict deterministic confines of literary naturalism, which hold that "the human being is merely one phenomenon in a universe of material phenomena" (Gerard 418), Edith Wharton creates in The House of Mirth a novel which irrefutably presents the human creature as being subject to a naturalistic fate but which conveys a looming sense of hope that one may triumph over environment and circumstance if one possesses a certain strength of will or a simple faith in human possibility.

“The Open Boat” is a short story written by Steven Crane about four men stranded on a dinghy after their boat had sunk over night. The men were struggling to stay alive because it seemed as if they had no hope for survival. The four stranded shipmen were a correspondent, an oiler, a cook, and a captain. The theme of the story is that man has no control over his destinies and that nature controls everything. Naturalist themes prevail in Stephen Crane's “The Open Boat” as it demonstrates naturalist literature through the struggle that nature throws at the men. Naturalism arises throughout the men’s constant battle between their surrounding environment and keeping

In literature there are many views you can take on one piece of work, whether it be a cultural, feminist, or psychoanalysis perspective; as humans we see the world differently, so we also view works of literature in our own ways. Literature is like art, one person may view the piece in one viewpoint and someone else may view it completely different, but they could both have different perspectives than what the artist or author was intending for the audience to obtain from that piece of work. In many stories, there could be various themes; some interlock and some could be complete opposites, it all depends on how one interprets the story they are reading. In Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding, the novel illustrates the theme of how the perception of oneself, from outside forces, influences self-determination, love and marriage in one’s life.

The religious context of The Sun Also Rises is mostly based off of Naturalism in some cases it can even be viewed as Nihilism. Naturalism is the belief of a “soulless universe”

The author lets us experience the conflict and choose the sides of the family that best describe our own sense of belonging. We become accommodated with the protagonist early on, it is the one dreaming for a better life...fortunately, dreaming about success is the motivation that keeps this family sleeping at night and working during the day. Its a story of a dysfunctional family that works together for a common cause, and

The style that was used in Cosi was naturalism. Naturalism was developed in the 19th - 20th century (Justin Cash.2006). It is a movement that originated in European theatres. A Naturalistic role play is used within a theatrical performance to demonstrate how a character would react in a real life situation. During the performance no photographs will be used to create an illusion, as it ruins the full effect of the reality.

As Cather uses the three philosophies of life; realism, romanticism, and naturalism throughout the story I start to see which philosophies she relates to. Cather relates to naturalism the most.

Another aspect of naturalism that we will include is the order in which we will perform scenes. We will be performing our piece chronologically. This is because Edith Appleton will have a developing friendship with one of her patients who she later finds out is very young. We plan to show the stages of this relationship and we will be meticulous to show the exact point in which she becomes attached to the young boy. He tells her about his life at home and how he misses his friends and family. He shares memories with her about the different people and asks her to send letters home because he is too ill to indulge in doing so.

Beginning in the late 19th century, two separate movements spread across America know as realism and naturalism. While the two were very similar in their beliefs and ideals there were still many apparent distinctions to differentiate the two. Realism and naturalism showed themselves in many aspects of life, from art and sciences to new math techniques and even religion. However, above all else these movements may have been most evident in the literature of this time. Reading through American literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it becomes perceptible which short stories portray realism and which represent nationalism.

Naturalism is a philosophy which emphasizes “the effect of heredity and environment on human nature and action” (Zhang) and incorporates realism to “suggest that social conditions… and environment [have] inescapable force in shaping human character” (Zhang). Furthermore, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Natural Philosophy explains that to Naturalists, “reality is exhausted by nature, containing nothing ‘supernatural’, and that the scientific method should be used to investigate all areas of reality” (Papineau). Naturalism (in literature) is an idea that suggests everything about humanity is measurable, detectable, manipulatable, and traceable to a cause, and therefore the characters of Naturalist literature would be illustrated as simply the products of their environments; vessels devoid of spiritual guidance or fate that are subject only to their environments. An example of a Naturalistic novel is The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton; a novel set in late 19th century New York that follows Lily Bart: a young woman who was born rich but is slowly losing both her societal status and her money whilst she repeatedly avoids marriage, her only option to escape her fate: a life of poverty. With this in mind, The House of Mirth is an exemplary example of a Naturalistic novel because of its portrayal of characters as the product of their environments.