Naturalism

Naturalism started to become prevalent in the late 19thcentury, and is sometimes seen as the successor of Realism. According to Blooms Literary reference "naturalism was a literary movement based on the writings of the scientist Charles Darwin, author of Origin of Species (1859)." (Sommers) Charles Darwin wrote Origin of Species and it was the first book to ever even suggest the idea of humans being evolved animals and not some sort of natural gods. Saying" "merely higher-order animals," bereft of free will, whose mannerisms and behavior resulted primarily from their heredity and the influences of a capricious environment (Abrams, 261)." (Sommers) This was a revolutionary idea. Few thoughts can really spawn an entire literary movement. Naturalist writers often would "Naturalist authors also relied on journalistic techniques. They focused on an accurate, almost clinical, record of a character struggling to survive some form of displacement from his or her surroundings." (Sommers) The setting of a naturalist story is often of great importance. The setting allows the author to mkae the story seem even more real. According to Joseph Sommers "There are detailed accounts of environment, and the city is a favorite setting. (Sommers) The setting of the story can add another level of realism into the story depending on how accurate the setting is. If the reader can imagine the background of the story and where it is taking place then they feel more involved in the story. Nauralism has several stories that deal with the class issue in the world. "Most notably the story"The Capitalist," a story of "the money-spending, and probably … the money-getting, world." More often than not, characters who operate outside the dominant social conventions created in the story find a reader's empathy and interest, especially since they have little control over their eventual fate." (Sommers) Some forms of naturalism are still around to day and will probably be for a while.Naturalism changed the literary world immensely and for the better.

Sommers, Joseph Michael. "naturalism." In Maunder, Andrew.Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS450&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 10, 2011).