American Naturalistic Period (1900-1914)
Definition:
Sub-movement of realism External factors affecting human character
Insignificance of human nature
- A quote from Stephen Crane's "War is Kind and Other Lines"
A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation."
Harshness of nature
"No such thing as a free lunch"
Darwinian influence
Themes: Poverty, racism, violence, prejudice, disease, corruption, filth
Features:
- Naturalism is pessimism
- Surprising twist in the end of the book
- Objective tone
- Characters are victim of environments and circumstances
- No free will
Historical Context:
- Assassination of U.S. President McKinley (1901)
- Russian Revolution (1905)
- Einstein's Theory of Relativity (1905)
- 1908 Messina Earthquake claims over 123,000 lives
- Sinking of Titanic (1912)
- World War I begins (1904)
Summary: war, depression, natural disasters, assassinations, revolutions, etc.
Authors:
- Stephen Crane ("The Red Badge of Courage")
- Jack London ("To Build a Fire")
- John Steinbeck ("The Grapes of Wrath")
Stories:
To Build a Fire
- Short story by Jack London
- Grim and harsh
- stupidity of mankind pointed out
- Lessons learned too late
- Based on personal experience
The Open Boat
- Short story by Stephen Crane
- Nature/Universe's indifference to man
Sources:
The text was very good and contained all the important information, but the visual appearance could be improved. Maybe you could add some pictures?
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