Definition of Naturalism

Naturalism was very similar to realism. They both share the large attention to detail. One of the most prominent similarities was the main character or characters that were in the book or story. Both of these included characters that were mainly average people. The "average Joe" is a good way to describe it. Many of the people in these books were living of the edge of society. They both also had the goal to not only look at American life as realistically as possible, but to also probe into it and find every detail, no matter how gruesome it may be. One of the main beliefs of a naturalist author is that human life is deterministic. "Determinism is the concept that individuals are controlled by impersonal internal and or external forces" (Anderson). This is a foundation of naturalist writing. They believe that every thing that happens was going to happen no matter what, and that no matter what one does, it doesn't matter in the end. Naturalist writers tend to write about the poor and lower class or the working class. This is another difference between naturalism and realism, whereas realism is usually aimed at the middle class. This is important to naturalism, mostly because the problems of the poor is the subject of many naturalist works. They center on the daily problems faced by the poor in the big city. The hopelessness of life is written about often. Many talk about the attempt to survive, even though in the end it is fruitless. Like the Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which is a naturalist title, they try to expose the horrors of life in the big city (Wilhelm). This is the usual setting of naturalist writing. The city is also where most of the terrible things that happen to poor are located, rather than suburbia or the country side. This doesn't mean that all take place in the city of course. Naturalism could almost be viewed as an extreme form of realism.


Anderson, George Parker, Judith S. Baughman, Matthew T. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson. "naturalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern, 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAmL1255&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 8, 2011).

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., and Douglas Fisher. "Regionalism and Realism." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 492-93. Print.