Naturalism And 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.

In the passage, The Horizontal World, Debra Marquart states, “Driving west from Fargo on I–94, the freeway that cuts through the state of North Dakota, you’ll encounter a road so lonely, treeless, and devoid of rises and curves in places that it will feel like one long-held pedal steel guitar note” (Marquart 1). Debra Marquart, along with several others, share a great passion for the Midwest. The Midwest is an area that is truly full of the unknown, as much of its qualities are not known to society. The Midwest can easily be viewed as bland and insipid, yet also overly structured and undisclosed. It can be exceptionally difficult for one to fully understand the Midwest due to its size and variation. Although, all in all, it most certainly can be described as an area, whose positives are not know by all. In Debra Marquart’s writing, The Horizontal World, she utilizes comical satires and evident allusion to characterize the land of the upper Midwest.

The upper Midwest is a region often viewed as unimportant or boring due to its seemingly endless plains and uneventful daily life. In her memoir, The Horizontal World, Debra Marquart challenges this view to show her fondness of the upper Midwest. By using techniques including juxtaposition, realism, and references to well-known people/works, Marquart effectively manipulates her audience to agree with her perception of the region.

Every part of the country has their own stereotype the west coast has people in bikini and partying non-stop, east coast is where all the famous movie stars hang out and Arizona is where “cowboys” are. The middle states, on the other hand, get look down because they aren’t as incredible and exciting as the east or west coast. The Midwest really doesn't get mentioned during besides begin tornado territory. In “The Horizontal World” by Marquart she explains how the Midwest gets looked down for its dull appearances while using visuals, allusion, and anecdote to give the reader the sense of the Midwest.

In life, there are many types of people that are spread throughout the world (5). People often have specific tendencies that can be attributed to their individual community. For example, the pronunciation of words and their vocabulary can change when entering different states. Bostonians tend to drop their r’s and New Yorkers usually accentuate every letter, and the South is famous for their charming drawl. This is a type of Regionalism; although, not everyone participates in these commonalities within their state, there are many other forms of Regionalism that take place in life and in Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God. In this novel, Regionalism plays a prime role in the dialect used by the characters, how a woman is treated by her husband, and how African Americans must be thought of as inferior because of popular opinion.

With her West Virginia upbringing and living in a coal town, she was inspired to write about “rednecks” in a more positive way. The main way of her doing so was to bring to light the characters of the novel and their loyalty to family, the land and values. The characters are very relatable, the characters manage to wiggle their way into the reader’s heart. It is easy for the reader to become attached characters and to the issues arising in the book. It is in fact a part of our history, native to Appalachia or

Marquart incorporates hasty generalizations in her memoir to display the views that Americans have surrounding the MidWest. Marquart states “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average”(Marquart 27). She is utilizing hasty generalizations to display the stereotypes that surround the

From the ideas shared in the novel, it is evident that the writer defines his ideal society in the form of an antithesis of existing society. The author takes the initiative of informing the American population - using the novel’s romantic medium - on matters concerning individualism, which is notable in an argument by Andrew Carnegie who claims

Unfortunately for Marquart’s grandparents, North Dakota was not only disappointing in terms of vividness, but it is also overvalued by the media. Entertainment describes a kind of false-facade in correspondence with North Dakota. This is a state where directors get their actors to be “blond, fresh-faced and midwestern” in order to make their “descent into ruthless behavior in places like Los Angeles and New York all the more tragic”. Even the people already living there are so monotone that film writers make characters midwestern for shock-value. Because everyone knows how boring the people are in North Dakota, when characters in entertainment begin to meet their downfall, it is actually seen as a surprise, as if everyone in North Dakota are idols. By juxtaposing midwestern women with the adventurous cities of New York and Los Angeles, Marquart successful shows the contrast of the secluded and undesired area of North Dakota. Marquart shows the difference between the point of view of Keillor’s Lake Wobegon, from A Prairie Home Companion, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average” and the film Fargo, “the macabre land of murder-by-wood-chipper”. Although the two stories make North Dakota seem like an attractive, exciting place, unfortunately, these two tales are just myths- nothing more. The real North Dakota claims to have “easy inclines and farmable plains”, yet an official surveyor,

In the passage The Horizontal World by Debra Marquart’s it states “Aside from this myth making, the Midwest is a place that’s been considered devoid of stories, a flyover region one must endure to get to more interesting places” (Marquart 31). This quote is explaining how other citizens in the United States think of states like North Dakota. Throughout the passage it explains how growing up in North Dakota or the square states is boring and plain. Along with talking about how plain these states are, the author brings up many points on why these states are important. Points such as how these states are the states that hold strong women and good looking men (Marquart 26). Throughout this passage the author uses visual imagery and expert

Mr. Butler represents capitalistic society taking advantage of the common people: Mr. Haskins and his family. After Mr. Haskins had worked towards purchasing the farm from Mr. Butler, he is met with resistance in the form of an unexpected price increase, to which he rebuts, “But you’ve done nothing to make it so. You hain’t added a cent. I put it all there myself, expectin’ to buy” (Garland 761). Garland, as if to emphasize the element of naturalism, writes, “Butler laughed” and has Butler respond to Mr. Haskins, “The law will sing another tune” (Garland 761).

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”

What is there in the world? And what is it like? “Let science be your guide.” Let’s call this “naturalism.” This slogan has both a positive and a negative side. The positive side is the assertion that the results of science are adequate to answer all of our ontological questions. The negative side is the denial that there is anything to rely on outside of science that can be a guide to our ontology.” It can be said that the scientific naturalistic worldview sees the universe as a bubble. Everything that happens inside the bubble occurs due to forces and elements that are contained within. Nothing exists outside of the bubble, therefore nothing outside the natural order has any causal effect within the bubble. So for someone that holds to the

    Writers involved in the naturalist movement believed that actors' lines should be spoken naturally, and that mechanical movements, vocal effects, and irrational gestures should be banished. A return to reality was proposed, with the old theatrical attitudes replaced with effects produced solely by the voice. There was a call to individualise characters, instead of generalising them, to produce characters whose minds and bodies would function as they would in real life. Strindberg's 'Miss Julie' has been said to be an excellent example of this movement, as it involves stress on multiple motivation of action; a departure from the stereotypical depictions of character; and random, illogical

This first half part of the essay will summarize the main points of naturalism, creationism and existentialism suggested by Baggini. Both pros and cons of the above positions will be discussed and the preferred position will be indicated. The later part of the essay will be focused on two moral issues, which are love, sex, marriage and euthanasia, and will be supported by the preferred position.