Throughout American history, the existing culture has always reflected what was occurring at the time around the country. This culture includes literature, but also its styles, themes, and motifs. Naturalism was a style of literature that was extremely prevalent around the turn of the twentieth century, a time of economic and social change due to the effects of the Gilded Age on society. While Naturalism initially does seem unbiased and unrelated to society, many naturalist authors, including the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Jack London, tell harsh truths about American society at the time in the hope that they could incite social and economic change.
To effectively discuss Naturalism, its examples and its effects, it is essential to formulate a clear definition of the style. Throughout the progression of American literature, Naturalism has changed from its initial version. Initially, Émile Zola had written his manifesto defining Naturalism and the style's characteristics. Martin Esslin discusses this in his article, "Naturalism in Context." Esslin quotes directly from Zola's manifesto of Naturalism called Le Naturalisme au théâtre. He quotes, "'Naturalism, in literature… is the return to nature and to man, direct observation, correct anatomy, the acceptance and the depiction of that which is'" (Esslin 69). Zola developed the theory of Naturalism with the ideas of the scientific method with him. His desire to see the reemergence of nature and truth in literature is a key factor that shaped early Naturalism. While they were not able to maintain their style until the modern day, early naturalists were able to lay the foundation for future naturalists to build upon while connecting philosophy and literature (Esslin 76). While this is Naturalism, to truly be able to analyze the entire style, all iterations of the style must be taken into account.
As time progresses, the new time period called for a new style of naturalism. In the article "Naturalism" by Lloyd Morgan, the new iteration of Naturalism is discussed. Morgan states that this new Naturalism is a mental attitude and not a "present blessed with a stereotyped creed" (Morgan 76). Without a hard-fast set of rules to abide by, Naturalist authors had a little more freedom. The main point from the article is that the human race does not know everything, but using what it does know, it creates a map that connects observations from nature to the laws created from these observations (Morgan 76). Morgan cedes that even if there is more in the world that we do not know, we could never understand it (Morgan 76). The only true world that we have cognizance of is the world that is revealed to us through observation and is studied through the natural sciences. It's only through this world and science that we can discover things worthy of being called knowledge (Morgan 77).
While this was a major view of Naturalism that many aligned with, some also aligned with a style advocated by Galen Strawson. In his article "Real Naturalism," he writes that he is a Naturalist when it comes to tangible, concrete reality (Strawson 125). This view of being a naturalist in terms of "concrete reality" is one that denies the existence of anything otherworldly or anything non-natural without significant evidence. However, Strawson also states that to define what is "non-natural" requires the naturalist to define what is natural (Strawson 126). This definition must exist for the naturalist to define themselves and what they believe. In Strawson's eyes, this definition is that everything that is defined as concrete reality is "entirely physical in nature" (Strawson 126). This definition is one that is quite clear; he does not consider anything non-physical as concrete reality. This leads to Strawson to view metaphysical Naturalism as the same as physicalism, the Naturalism Strawson believes in. A major point that Strawson and many others believe in is that in order to experience reality and write about it, the experience has to be an experience with realism (Strawson 126). This simply means that the experience that occurs must be unbiased and uncensored. This style of Naturalism was popular and is seen somewhat in Jack London who will be discussed later.
With these three different iterations of Nationalism discussed, a working definition of Naturalism for this paper can be created. Naturalism is the style that takes the conditions of the environment around the author and presents it in an unbiased, unfiltered way. This style of presenting the truth and nothing but the truth will be essential to showing that authors at the turn of the twentieth century were advocating for change. While the truth is sometimes harsh, it is essential that it is presented through Naturalism to give people a clear view of the situation of the subject. Taking from your surroundings and your observations to create a work that encapsulates not only your feelings, but the natural truth, is the basis of Naturalism.
Another concept that will be needed to understand the effect of these Naturalist authors is the concept of social Darwinism. One of the biggest supporters of this idea was William Graham Sumner, and in the article "William Graham Sumner, Social Darwinist," Richard Hofstadter discusses what social Darwinism is. Hofstadter says that in normal Darwinism, animals are naturally unequal, and this inequality is what drives evolution (Hofstadter 467). This same idea is applied society and proves the power of the competitive process. With this harsh competition, people will strive to be the best they can be. This will lead to the most successful people having qualities like "'courage, enterprise, good training, intelligence, [and] perseverance'" (Hofstadter 468). This definition will prove to be important due to its implications of driving the people at the top further upwards and the people at the bottom further downwards.
America, at the turn of the twentieth century, was undergoing a huge change, socially and economically. After the Civil War, America went through a period of industrial expansion, and with that came a new culture and society. The urban populations were dramatically increasing with the number of jobs and workers increasing (Pizer 191). However, the conditions that they were living in were terrible and the people living in these conditions were not able to spread their stories of suffering. Jacob Riis was a Danish immigrant who was able to spread the strife of immigrants and the working class through his works. In his book How the Other Half Lives, he is able to show what the immigrants felt. He showed their despair and says that they have realized that there is no escaping this struggle (Riis 3). He says that, "nothing is left but to make the best of a bad bargain" (Riis 3). When the question of what people are going to do about this struggle is brought up, it is clear that he speaks for all immigrants, and even the working class as a whole (Riis 5). There were cries for help, and Naturalist authors answered the call with the hope of reform.
One of the most famous authors of the Naturalist style was Ernest Hemingway. Being an extraordinary writer, Hemingway was able to take his surrounding and turn the struggle into a work of art. He was very good at being able to present his story and argument clearly and artistically, the goal for any writer. As Joseph Fitzpatrick discusses in his article "Hemingway's Naturalism," Hemingway had a dictum that he followed for his entire career: "You've got to see it, feel it, smell it, hear it" (Fitzpatrick 319). This mantra that Hemingway followed for his career was one that became very clear throughout his works. The way that he approached works showed that he had a new, revolutionary way of literary style (Fitzpatrick 318). Hemingway made the reading enjoyable and thoroughly descriptive. This style of writing that brought the senses of sight, smell, and more to the reader is one that would fall clearly under the umbrella of Naturalism.
While Hemingway did have an agenda of what he wanted to talk about and what he wanted his work to do, it is not clear and requires some inferring to find out. Fitzpatrick suggests that Hemingway was focusing on Darwinism and its scientific significance (Fitzpatrick 316). However, in regard to the working definition of Naturalism in this paper, it is quite plausible that Hemingway was actually alluding to social Darwinism. This ideology was one that quickly took hold in culture due to peoples' desire to protect their wealth. With the surge of immigrant populations in America and their contribution to the economy and occupation of American jobs, people were looking for ways to justify oppressing them and boosting Americans. While he was an amazing writer, Hemingway's works' intended effects relied on the reader actually reading and picking up on what the author was saying, an effect Hemingway used more than most authors (Weeks 417). This meant that the readers had to be somewhat educated or interested in reading literature, either of which categories would rule out the lower, working class. This shows that the intended audience were people with the power to do something about the oppression and unfairness the lower classes had to deal with. Hemingway was trying to incite a change while telling the story of the struggling, oppressed people around him.
Another famous author who falls under the umbrella of Naturalism is Jack London. While Hemingway's style of Naturalism was a very artistic, descriptive version of Naturalism, London's style is very simplistic. In "Never Travel Alone," an article about Jack London's Naturalism by Jeanne Campbell Reesman, Reesman quotes a critic named Seltzer who says that London, as a naturalist, reduces everything he writes about to its most simple form. Seltzer goes on to talk about how London's characters are simply moved about by the "'dispassionate laws of force,'" a style that many will dislike (Reesman 36). This disconnectedness seems to fit the stereotypical definition of Naturalism, but with this working definition, a deeper meaning can be drawn out.
London seemed to be writing with no passion, but his works can be inferred to be writing about the same things as Hemingway: social Darwinism and the struggle of the lower class (Reesman 37). London took a different approach as compared to Hemingway. Whereas Hemingway was extremely artistic and showy in his works, London went the opposite way. James McClintock writes in his article, "Jack London: Finding the Proper Trend of Literary Art," that London also unintentionally became more pessimistic as time passed (McClintock 28). While there are some plausible explanations, one that sticks out is that the environment around him was becoming harsher. The harshness of his surroundings found their way into his works. McClintock also says that "London wanted to dramatize man's insignificance to a Darwinian world," but he actually was "unknowingly celebrating sentimental, optimistic versions of the American Dream of Success" (McClintock 25). With the struggling population around him, London was able to give the people who read his works an idea of the American Dream.
While this working definition is able to show that Naturalism was used to incite change in society, there are critics that argue against this. In "Embodying American Literary Naturalism" by Lisa A. Long, a counterargument is brought up. Long argues that naturalism is an unstable style due to its ties to white masculinity (Long 160). To her, this masculinity must be defended, and Naturalism falls apart due to this (Long 161). She argues that the issue of white masculinity is so important that the methodological process of Naturalism is compromised. While this could be a view shared by many people, it is one that is wrong due to the basis of the working definition of Naturalism in this paper. Naturalist writers were writing for the benefit of society. They were drawing from society at the time, taking into account the struggle of man and woman, American and non-American, and every other minority there. While white males were the ones who were writing, they put their own masculinities behind them in order to possibly bring change to a society that needed it.
Naturalism, by its very definition, is that author taking from what is around them and turning that into a literary work. At the time period of Naturalism, Hemingway, London, and others were surrounded by poverty and strife. They would have seen immigrants and lower-class Americans struggling every day. The oppressed peoples had no voice for themselves and with nobody there to help them, they were suffering. Naturalist authors were the voice for these people and their goals were quite clear. They wanted to spread the stories of the struggling people of America. The wealthy were gaining wealth while the poor were getting poorer and the people that had the power to help the poor were not helping them. This constant oppression was building up and nobody seemed to want to do anything to help these oppressed peoples. Authors like Hemingway and London took the first step and brought these struggling peoples' stories to the people who had caused them their struggle. The middle and upper classes would be exposed to the struggles of the lower class through the works of Naturalist authors. Ernest Hemingway and Jack London were not politicians or businessmen; they were simply authors who wanted to bring the struggles of the working class to light.
While it is easy to overlook the struggles of the working class, Hemingway, London, and others would not let that happen. These authors defied the stereotypes of their style and did all they could to help the struggling peoples. Telling the harsh truth to the people who could make a change was their goal and by bringing these stories to light, Naturalist writers were taking steps to try to incite social and economic change. They took the real world, turned it into literature, so that maybe the real world could see a change.