Naturalism And Naturalism

Naturalism is a complex literary movement which infiltrated many books in the 1800s. One book in particular best shows the themes of Naturalism. The book, Ethan Frome, displays a multitude of motifs which further the main ideas and themes of the story. Motifs are used to highlight the theme. Due to the complex nature of the book, Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton, motifs are used to further the ideas and themes presented in this tale.

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.

Although the circumstances nature thrust at the man were immortaly dangerous, the man’s deficit of imagination and negligence innately led to his death. Psycologically, the man was no match for the treacherous conditions around

“It was not death or dying that frightened him, but the unexpectedness of both” (14).

Naturalism and Realism both became important writing styles in the mid- nineteenth century. Naturalist writing portrays individuality within a character allowing a person to obtain humanistic themes. Realist writing is all about portraying real life and real situations. (Thesis)- Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” and Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” both display elements of naturalism and realism.

To add on from the concrete dissimilarities of both author’s interpretations. Both pieces also have conflicting moral and this can be derived from the fact that the pieces were written in different time periods and two totally different authors. It is evident that both authors drew

At first look, Arrow of God and Smoke Signals do not seem to have a great deal in common. Arrow of God takes place in Nigeria. The tribe’s leader, Ezeulu, is faced with the difficulties of Nigeria gaining their independence and the colonization of the white men. Smoke Signals follows a couple of Coeur D’Alene Indians, Thomas and Victor, on their journey to Phoenix, Arizona to retrieve Victor’s father’s ashes after he passes away off of the reservation. Looking deeper into conflicts, archetypes, and philosophies, it is easy to see that these two stories share many of common traits.

The underlying themes of the stories are while less forthright, are still valid contrasts between the works. In some portions the themes are of the same facet such as how in both books two men have a direct conflict between one another, but in the end the most prominent themes are; Man vs. Nature in The Interlopers, as in the end even as man has petty struggles amongst his kind, nature dictates his end, and Man vs. Himself in The Most Dangerous Game, as the life or death conflict between the two hunters throws the story like a ragdoll. This theme dissimilarity, while subtle, is a major difference.

Naturalism is a very intense style of literature that an author can use. With naturalism, the author is trying to convey knowledge acquired through the senses and experiences they them selves have been through. In the novel of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, he portrays elements of naturalism through his very own sights and experiences. During the depression John Steinbeck got a first hand dose of what it meant to deal with sordid aspects of life. Just like his book, he portrays his accounts using highly realistic settings, and brutal characters with foul mouths that deal with depressing issues of life. In the real world things happen, but in the world of Mice and Men, nothing ever seems to happen the way the characters hope.

Imagine being in -75 degrees celsius or lower weather, with only a few layers of clothing on your body. Also in an isolated area with no people for many miles and freezing to death. This is exactly what happened in the story “How to build a fire” by Jack London. But what actually kills the man is not how cold it is, what leads the man to his death is his arrogance, his attitude, and him being simply foolish.

A slightly more aggressive or radical form of Naturalism is Nihilism. Nihilism is much like Naturalism however the differences between the two are very important. One example of

Naturalism is a theory in writing that focuses on the indifferent characteristics of nature. Naturalism was an extension of the outgrowth of literary realism in the mid 19th century. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution influenced the thinking of these naturalistic writers. Two authors depict naturalism in their stories heavily. Stephen Crane tells a story about a lifeboat lost at sea in “The Open Boat” and Jack London depicts a man’s trials in the wilderness through “To Build a Fire”.

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.

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.