English 221

Grant T. Smith, Ph. D.

Notes on Naturalism

 

These notes come from three sources:

·        The Beginnings of Critical Realism in America: 1860-1920, Main Currents in American Thought Volume Three by Vernon Louis Parrington

·        The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms by Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray

·        A Handbook to Literature by William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman

 

Naturalism:  A term reserved for a literary movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  In its simplest sense naturalism is the application of principles of scientific determinism to literature.  It draws its name from its basic assumption that everything real exists in NATURE, conceived as the world of objects, actions, and forces that yield their secrets to objective scientific inquiry.  The naturalistic view of human beings is that of animals in the natural world, responding to environmental forces and internal stresses and drives, none of which they can control or understand.  It tends to differ from REALISM in the organization of materials, selecting not the commonplace but the representative and so arranging the work that its structure reveals the pattern of ideas--in this case, scientific theory--which forms the author's view of life.

 

The criteria of naturalism (as a form of literature) are:

·        Objectivity -- even though occasionally human beings are seen as the victims of destiny or fate, Naturalists do not comment on the morality or the fairness of the situations in which characters find themselves.

·        Frankness -- frank in the portrayal of human beings as animals driven by fundamental urges--fear, hunger, and sex

·        Amoral attitude toward material-- an amoral view of the struggle in which animals find themselves, neither condemning nor praising human beings for actions beyond their control

·        Philosophy of determinism -- Naturalistic works tend to emphasize either a biological or a socioeconomic determinism.

·        Bias toward pessimism in selection of details -- pessimistic about human capabilities--life, the naturalists seem to feel, is a vicious trap

·        Bias in selection of characters which are usually of three types:  (a) characters marked by strong physiques and small intellectual activity; (b) characters of excited neurotic temperament, at the mercy of moods, driven by forces that they do not stop to analyze; (c) an occasional use of a strong character whose will is broken

·        Characters are subject to certain temptations:  (a) desire to change his/her fate; (b) sex; (c) animal impulses.  In Realism the characters have at least some degree of rree will, which they are able to exercise to affect their situations; naturalism assumes humans have little if any control over what happens.  Rather, things happen to people, who are at the mercy of a variety of external and internal forces as if they were marionettes whose movements are entirely determined by forces beyond their control.

·        Complexity and American Determinism:  Complexity springs from (a) machine industrialism; (b) the great city; (c) centralization of wealth; (d) mechanistic psychology.

 

 

 

Influences upon Naturalism:

 

Isaac Newton -- a sense of mechanistic determinism.

Charles Darwin -- a sense of biological determinism and the inclusive metaphor of competitive jungle that it has used perhaps more often than any other.

Karl Marx -- a view of history as a battleground of economic and social forces

Sigmund Freud -- view of the determinism of the inner and subconscious self.

Herbert Spencer – Social Darwinism

 

Social Darwinism

Social Darwinism was a late 19th century sociological theory which was primarily based on the writings of Herbert Spencer. Inherent in the theory of Social Darwinism was Spencer's "survival of the fittest." Borrowing from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, Social Darwisnists believed that societies, as do organisms evolve over time. Nature then determined that the strong survive and the weak perish. In Jack London's case, he thought that certain favored races were destined for survival. Certainly the Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic races, represented for London, the superior. In A Daughter of the Snows, London wrote:

"I am my father's son, and the line goes back to the sea-kings who never slept under the smoky rafters of a roof or drained the alehorn by inhabited hearth. There must be a reason for the dead-status of the black, a reason for the Teuton spreading over the earth as no other race has ever spread. There must be something in race heredity, else I would not leap at the summons."

As this passage shows, London's Social Darwinism usually mixed with his interest in racialism. There are several other novels that portray London's belief in the biological superiority of the white man, namely Burning Daylight, Adventure, and The Mutiny of the Elsinore.

For more information on Social Darwinism, see Robert C. Bannister, Social Darwinism: Science and Myth in Anglo-American Social Thought (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1979).

 

Words we generally associate with Naturalism:

·        Detailed objectivity

·        Detached

·        Realism

 

Authors we generally associate with Naturalism:

·        Stephen Crane (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets)

·        Theodore Dreiser (Sister Carrie)

·        Frank Norris (The Octopus)

·        Jack London (The Call of the Wild)

 

Social Darwinism:
Reason or Rationalization?

The following activity asks you to evaluate the theory of Social Darwinism. Read the activity and think carefully about the questions it asks. You may write down your answers or discuss them with your classmates. See the bottom of this page for a chance to publish your answers on the World Wide Web.

Although economic interests spurred the rush of expansion, other factors caused it as well. Many people, including Teddy Roosevelt, believed in America's duty to "elevate uncivilized peoples." European powers claimed the same duty as they colonized Africa and Asia. Others pointed to the theoretical work of Charles Darwin to justify the cause of imperialism.

As a young man, Charles Darwin joined a British scientific expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. As the Beagle journeyed around the world, Darwin collected specimens of plants and animals. He found fossils of extinct animals that resembled living animals, and he noticed many variations within the same species. After returning from his voyage, Darwin spent twenty years studying his specimens. In 1859 Darwin published On the Origin of the Species by the Means of Natural Selection, a book that explained his new theory.

In his theory of natural selection, Darwin made the following observations:

  1. The resources of an environment are limited. Creatures produce more offspring than can possibly survive. Members of a species must compete for limited resources and for survival.
  2. No two members of a species are exactly alike. Each organism contains an individual combination of inherited traits. Some traits are useful for survival; other traits are not.
  3. Organisms that have useful traits reproduce in greater numbers. Their offspring inherit the traits. Organisms with unfavorable traits eventually die off. The fittest survive.
  4. Nature selects different traits at different times. Varieties within a species gradually create a new species.

The publication of this theory started a sensational controversy. Many writers applied Darwin's theory to sociology. They developed a controversial theory called Social Darwinism. Many people, from Karl Marx to Captain Mahan to Adolf Hitler, employed Social Darwinism in their arguments. How can people with vastly different viewpoints use the same argument to defend their views?

Read the following basic argument for Social Darwinism. Does it adhere to the principles of Darwin's theory? Why or why not?

Within the human species, nations are locked in a struggle for survival. Everywhere, civilized nations are supplanting barbarous nations. Advanced civilization, obviously, has inherited valuable traits from its ancestors. Underdeveloped cultures, except in hostile climates, will soon die off. Therefore, natural order obligates powerful, civilized nations to appropriate the limited resources of the weak.

Josiah Strong, an influential American clergyman, wrote the following argument for expansion in 1897. Is it logical? How does it differ from the previous passage? Does it follow Darwin's line of reasoning?

The two great ideas of mankind are Christianity and civil liberty. The Anglo-Saxon civilization is the great representative of these two great ideas. Add to this the fact of his rapidly increasing strength in modern times, and we have a demonstration of his destiny.

There can be no doubt that North America is to be the great home of Anglo-Saxon power. It is not unlikely that before the close of the next century, this race will outnumber all other civilized races of the earth. But the widening waves of migration meet today on its Pacific coast. The unoccupied arable lands of the world are limited and will soon be taken.

The time is coming when the pressure of population will . . . force the final competition of races. The United States will assert itself, having developed aggressive traits necessary to impress its institutions upon mankind. Can anyone doubt that the result of this competition will be the survival of the fittest?

 

 

 

Journal Assignment: Answer the following questions in your journal.  Be prepared to use your notes or responses to lead a discussion of Crane and London.

 

1.      Stephen Crane and Jack London are considered naturalist authors.  What elements of naturalism do their two short stories, "The Open Boat" and "To Build a Fire" have in common?  How are the two works similar in treatment of setting, character, conflict, theme and tone?

2.      Name the four men in the dinghy in "The Open Boat."

3.      Which of the four men is named?  What is his name?

4.      Which of the four men drowned?  How is his death ironic?

5.      How is nature (the sea) represented in the short story?