Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
History of american literature
History of american literature
History of american literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Naturalism includes stories based on movements by authors in my opinion. From what we learned in class and what the PowerPoints they were all based on this notion of panic and social change in America. We see issues that authors like Stephen Crane used in his stories that focused on nature, ambiguity and this relationship between Realism and Naturalism. His stories “The Blue Hotel” and “The Open Boat” are very much Naturalist works due to Crane’s kinship of mankind having ethical obligations. Crane used this opportunity to then toil with the human mind by instinctive human behavior when faced with life or death situations.
Both of Crane’s stories revolve around a group of men, “The Blue Hotel” you see the Swede, the cowboy and a silent little man from the East. In “The Open Boat” you see a cook, a captain, an oiler, and a correspondent. These to two stories are similar in a sense that they both revolve around some type of conflict that ends in death to one individual. In “The Blue Hotel” we see three men
…show more content…
come to the hotel seeking refuge from the blizzard outside, in reality the storm that is taking place is between the Swede.
“The Open Boat” is similar because these men are hoping for refuge at “Mosquito Light Inlet” but they are faced with waves, which symbolizes of survival of the fittest. Now between both of these stories nature is surrounded in them, “The Blue Hotel” the fight between the Swede and Johnnie is described like animal attacks examples are “panther-fashion” (1794) and another like “in a calm that had the elements of leonine cruelty in it” (1795) which can seem to illustrate that people are like human beast. After winning the fight still high off his victory the Swede walks into the towns bar like an aggressive bear looking for trouble and seeks some men to drink with him. When the Swede provokes the gambler and then grabbing
him by his neck the gambler stabs him and leaves this aggressive powerless Swede dead and defenseless. As for “The Open Boat” nature played a full part as we were on our toes the whole time hoping that the men would just jump out and swim to shore but clearly the waves were to rough. We were told throughout the whole story the oiler was the strongest and clearly pulled all the weight when it came to rowing. Then a twist comes when we find out that the strongest individual is left faced down in the water. Crane clearly draws this notion of human instincts between both of his stories through fighting and survival of the fittest. Both of these stories by Crane suggest strong universal reasoning of survival and bad decision making. The Swede could have survived if he didn’t have this mindset of the Wild West and if he took Scully’s warning which can be symbols of the universe to stop arguing along with the biggest warning of all the blizzard. Finally we are lead to believe the strongest or the fittest will survive but in the end nature is the deciding factor. All these factors unfortunately led to the oilers death which was Crane’s way to toil with our human mind by instinctive human behavior when faced with life or death situations. In the end “The Blue Hotel” and “The Open Boat” are very much Naturalist works due to mankind having an ethical obligations to either defend oneself or survival.
In literature, both regionalism and naturalism are derived from realism. Regionalism describes specific regional landscapes and reveals that area’s form of communication and customs. On the other hand, naturalism focuses more on society, the environment, spirits, and the concepts that are beyond what our brains are capable of comprehending; more or less, the facts. Although both make for a diverse set of literature work, they seem to interlink in ways. For instance, both regionalism and naturalism expose the reality of life and the struggles that humans face.
Naturalism attempts to apply scientific ideals and division when studying the human race. In Upton Sinclair’s brutally descriptive novel, The Jungle, the literary elements of character, setting, and theme show three areas where the book illustrates naturalistic fictional trends. Characters present within naturalistic fiction typically consist of lower-class people who struggle with forces which they cannot control. Sinclair utilizes the main character Jurgis Rudkus, an immigrant from Lithuania, to reveal how capitalism takes advantage over the poor and uses them for cheap labor showing no regard for their welfare.
In the short story “ The Open Boat,” by Stephen Crane, Crane does an outstanding job creating descriptive images throughout the entire story. With saying this, Crane uses symbolism along with strong imagery to provide the reader with a fun and exciting story about four guys who 's fight was against nature and themselves. Starting early in the book, Crane creates a story line that has four men in a great amount of trouble in the open waters of the ocean. Going into great detail about natures fierce and powerful body of water, Crane makes it obvious that nature has no empathy for the human race. In this story, Crane shows the continuous fight that the four men have to endure in able to beat natures strongest body of water. It 's not just nature the men have to worry about though, its the ability to work together in order to win this fight against nature. Ultimately, Crane is able to use this story, along with its vast imagery and symbolism to compare the struggle between the human race and all of natures uncertainties.
The characters also are involved in the belief of the anti-transcendental philosophy. The story shows how each character acts with nature and each other. Many of the whalers must protect the boat and each other as they trek through the wild tides and horrible weather conditions. They try their hardest to fight these conditions, but sadly the narrator is the only survivor. These men exemplify the philosophy by fighting the animals; especially the whales ...
Writing in “Fact, Not Fiction: Questioning Our Assumptions About Crane’s ‘The Open Boat,’” Stefanie Eye Bates remarks, “By mentioning the men’s friendship, the atmosphere of congeniality and fraternity, the captain’s calm voice and the comfort the others took in it, Crane fully explains how he draws the conclusion that ‘although no one said it was so,’ the sense of unity was felt by all” (73). Since this bond of brotherhood is felt by all the men in the boat, but not discussed, it manifests in small ways as the men interact with each other. They are never irritated or upset with each other, no matter how tired or sore they are. Whenever one man is too tired to row, the next man takes over without complaining. When the correspondent thinks that he is the only person awake on the boat, and he sees and hears the shark in the water, the narrator says, “Nevertheless, it is true that he did not want to be alone with the thing. He wished one of his companions to awaken by chance and keep him company with it” (Crane 212). In reference to this scene, Shulman remarks that “the central theme of community [is] touchingly rendered here because the correspondent does not awaken his exhausted companions” (451). Nobody makes any statements about the bond that the men develop, but it is evident in small things like this, where the correspondent lets the other men sleep
The struggle for survival by mankind can be found in many different settings. It can be seen on a battlefield, a hospital room or at sea as related in “The Open Boat”, written in 1897 by Stephen Crane. The story is based on his actual experiences when he survived the sinking of the SS Commodore off the coast of Florida in early 1897. “The Open Boat” is Stephen Crane’s account of life and death at sea told through the use of themes and devices to emphasize the indifference of nature to man’s struggles and the development of mankind’s compassion.
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
There are four men stranded on a boat who are introduced in the beginning of the story. The cook, the oiler, the correspondent, and the captain are all on a boat that "a man ought to have a bath tub larger than" (360). As the men fight the crest of each wave they encounter, it is obvious that this is a desperate situation. Showing their powerlessness the narrator describes a group of birds as sitting ."..comfortably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dinghy, for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland" (363). Even though the men are in grave danger, the sun rises and sets and a shark even swims by but seems to have no need for the men in the boat. The men even believe that the waves are harsh on them and want to capsize the boat. The narrator explains that "[the waves were] nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats" (361). Even though it is obvious that the ocean always has waves, it is hard fo...
Important aspects of naturalism are the ideas that people are essentially animals responding to their basic urges without rational thought, and the insignificance of man to others and nature. In The Jungle, Sinclair portrays Jurgis as a man slowly changing into animal as well as a man whose actions are irrelevant to the rest of the corrupt capitalist world of Chicago in order to show the reader the naturalist ideas of the struggles between man and society.
Crane draws his readers into the story with tone by placing the reader into the same frame of reference as the characters. In "The Open Boat", the beginning focuse...
...t when he began to panic as the second fire extinguished. He seemed as though he had lost all knowledge of his survival skills. He thought about killing the dog and wallowing in its steaming insides for refuge from the cold. "The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale of a man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved."(1752). When the man realized that the dog would not let him come near he was forced to concoct another plan. His idea was that if he ran all the way to the camp, he would be able to survive. Unfortunately, that plan failed as well and the man perished in the cold, numbing snow of the Yukon. Overall, naturalism is the most realistic literary movement. It parallels life more than any other movement because it reveals the fact that nature has not heart and no emotions. Nature feels no compassion for human struggles and will continue on it's path of destruction and harm regardless of the circumstances.
There are many lessons one can learn by reading Crane’s “The Open Boat” due to him constructing a microcosm of society. It is unbelievable how authors, especially Crane, are able to use characters and items as symbolism to produce a meaning of a story. Crane was meticulous on choosing the correct names, backgrounds, and descriptions of the characters and items he used in this story. If he would not have paid close attention to these details in his story, it would just be another plain story with no meaning.
Nature is often portrayed as indifferent or disinterested in the affairs of humankind. Whereas naturalism involves emphasis on the hostility of nature, realism lacks this trait. For example, after fighting a battle, "the youth [feels] a flash of astonishment at the blue, pure sky and the sun gleaming on the trees and fields.
Nature is not animate. It is composed of a multitude of living components, yet nature itself is no more alive than a rock or a grain of salt. Therefore, the natural world is powerless to exercise control over the experiences and interactions individuals have with it. The naturalist school of literature and thought supports this assertion. Naturalist writers Stephen Crane and Jack London, and cinema director Joe Carnahan provide clear examples of naturalism in their work. Their respective works “The Open Boat”, “To Build a Fire”, and The Grey all employ the notion of the universe as indifferent to the plight of its constituents to strengthen the naturalist vein which runs throughout each piece.
Jack London 's "To Build a Fire" is a tragic story of a man who embarks on a journey through the frigid cold on the Yukon Trail during a brutal winter and is faced with battling the power of nature. We are shown a man who begins his journey, accompanied by a wolf-dog that follows, with all the confidence in the world, only to quickly end, not just his travels, but also his life. London uses many elements of naturalistic literature to tell his story. The theme of man versus nature, as well as survival, is our first evidence of this. He also concentrates on narrative as opposed to character to make his point that we are nothing in the eyes of nature. Determinism is another theme used that is extremely important. Naturalism, in all, is a type of extreme realism that is built on the idea that environment determines and governs human character. "To Build a Fire" is a classic example of naturalistic literature and shows that, if humans are not careful, nature will defeat them.