Naturalism

By definition, naturalism focuses on physical nature and material circumstances while denying the reality or significance of a spiritual or metaphysical component of humanity. Naturalism holds that while basic personal instincts are hereditary, psychological forces and social institutions—which the individual neither controls nor understands—shape and refine one's approach to life (Fargnoli).

Therefore, naturalism is basically focusing on nature, and include all the different aspects to it. So although nature can be seen as a somewhat basic concept, when written about, nature itself can be quite complex and complicated with the many things that occur in it, and is much different than realism.

Abby Werlock says, "American naturalism began in the 1890s, led by Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, and Jack London. These writers chose to work with a prose that was more sparse and themes that were more deterministic than the realists who preceded them. In contrast to realism, which attempted to capture ordinary American life as it unfolded in cities and rural areas in the middle and late 19th century, naturalism employed harsher outdoor settings and placed characters in trying situations where they often confronted natural forces" (Werlock). I find Abby's observation interesting, because she does prove a good point regarding the differences in the two writing styles. Realism focused more on the city life, while naturalism has the characters struggling for survival out in nature itself, which makes sense considering the name "naturalism." The different aspects and differences in the two writing styles are interesting to read and contrast because coming from the same time period, the writing styles are similar, but different at the same time. That statement could be considered an oxymoron or contradictory, but it is true. The definitions of the two writing styles alone are different as well as the messages the authors are trying to convey.

Therefore, although the two writing styles of naturalism and realism are different, they both came from the same time period, thus creating two different unique aspects to their writing and adding a unique trait to their already different writing style.

Works Cited:

Fargnoli, A. Nicholas and Michael Patrick Gillespie. "naturalism and James Joyce." Critical Companion to James Joyce: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCJJ0512&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 31, 2011).

Werlock, Abby H. P. "naturalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0501&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 3, 2011).