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Maria Shah

American Studies

Ms. Alexander

09 March 2014

Naturalism Essay

Naturalism is a literary movement that sought to show things in a sort of everyday reality compared to the dreamlike way things were written during movements such as Romanticism. However, what message is naturalism trying to convey? Some believe it is presenting how humans are inherently flawed and fragile compared to nature which is calloused and indifferent, while others believe it is trying to show human perseverance despite their shortcomings. While naturalism is generally seen as showing the gloomy reality of life due to nature’s indifference, it can be argued that naturalism has nothing to do with nature at all, but instead the decisions that humans make, whether they be a direct decision, indirect decision, or someone else’s decision entirely, that lead them to their ultimate demise.

Most stories that fall under “naturalism” are stories where a character is fighting something that they do not have the power to change. These types of stories are usually where the characters make decisions for themselves and ultimately fail. So, why is nature brought into this? Nature is seen as indifferent. Yet, why do authors accuse nature of being the problem? If nature is indifferent, it does not care about people accusing it of not caring. Naturalism is about the characters not caring. Everyone can make a decision for the better, however the characters in most of these stories did not. In To Build a Fire by Jack London we see an explicit example of this, “He remembered the advice of the old man on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The man had been very serious when he said that no man should travel alone in that country after 50 below zero.” Despite the old man’s warning he continues his trek in the cold only to die in the end. It was his decision to go out in the cold despite the old man’s warning. This is an obvious example of how a person’s own decision can affect them as well. The man had a...