Comparing The Works Of Stephen Crane And William Wordsworth

Stephen Crane and William Wordsworth are two authors who base many works of theirs on the idea of Naturalism. Naturalism is a literary movement in the nineteenth century that suggests the environment shapes human character. Wordsworth’s and Crane’s literary works contrast to prove that an individual’s viewpoint on the natural world depends on their own experiences with naturalism. Wordsworth sustains an optimistic tone within the compilation of his poems he has written. Two primary examples of his poetry would be: “I wandered lonely as a cloud” and “The world is too much with us.” In these, he briefly discusses how comforting parts of nature are, and how he feels less alone when in the midst of the natural world. He also states that nature

He does so by firstly talking about how nature provides him with this sense of comfort. In “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” he spots a crowd of flowers beside the lake and beneath the trees. Because it is a cluster of flowers rather than just one he feels as if they are his company. He even gives these flowers that he has spotted human-like characters. He states that they are said to be fluttering and dancing in the wind. These actions that he gave them show to us how he thought of these daffodils as joyous company. This scene of dandelions dancing together is so pleasant that he compares them to continuous shining stars that stretch in a never-ending line. This never-ending line makes him feel less alone because it is now more than just him. There are “ten thousand saw I at glance.” He says these flowers are so pleasurable that their presence out-did sparkling waves. He could not help but be happy in such a jocund company. He had gazed at this scenery for so long that he forever had a mental image saved. Even on the dreariest days, he could flash upon that inward eye. This mental connection that he has made with the images of these flowers takes him away from the vacant and pensive state of mind. Whenever he feels alone he envisions these daffodils, and allows the “bliss of solitude” to push the loneliness out. His heart is no longer empty and now dances with the

In Stephen Crane’s short story, “The Open Boat,” four men are pit against the harsh natural world stranded in the middle of the ocean. Whilst being trapped in this open boat, there are these tower-like waves surrounding these men that are depicted as walls. A wall is a structure meant to enclose something or someone. On page 208 Crane includes “As each wave came, she rose for it, seemed like a bucking bronco making for a fence outrageously high" because the waves are pretty much this huge fence, or barrier, to the men and their lifeboat. This enclosure creates a feeling of suffocation and isolation because the men cannot seem to escape. They know that there is this vast ocean beyond the waves as well as land ahead of them, but because of the superior waves, all they can see is the grey sky above them. This in turn creates a feeling of hopelessness because they know it is all there, but they cannot seem to reach