Literature and Realism

Naturalism was thus realism scientized, systematized, taken finally beyond realist principles of fidelity to common experience or of humanistic exploring of individual lives within the social and moral web to an experiment in the laws of social and biological existence (Bradbury 9).

The shift from realism to naturalism is not a jarring one, for naturalism is only an extended and more scientific approach to realism, one that delves more deeply into the commonplace and that addresses elements in society that earlier would have been ignored. One of these elements is that of class and the class distinctions made in society. Aspects of Naturalism can be seen in the novels White Fang by Jack London and McTeague by Frank Norris, and in both cases a key element is a sense of the bestiality existing beneath the surface in humankind, with class

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ners of white fang clearly possess different characteristics and stand at different social levels, and the dog as well fits in whatever level the master enjoys. In the Indian camp, White Fang behaves badly because he is treated badly: Savageness was part of his make-up, but the savageness thus developed exceeded his make-up. He acquired a reputation for wickedness amongst the man-animals themselves (London 86). White Fang senses the nature of the men with whom he comes into contact, and again he responds to the place each holds in society. His response to Beauty Smith is an example: This was the man that looked at White Fang, delighted in his ferocious prowess, and desired to possess him. He made overtures to White Fang from the first. White Fang began by ignoring him (London 123). London shows throughout how environmental determinism shapes the character of White Fang, from his philosophy of "eat or be eaten" in the wild to the way Lip-Lip torments him in camp. In the end, it is the kindness of his last master that prevents him from reverting. What London shows to be true for animals, Frank Norris makes a rule for human beings as well. The story of McTeague follows the normal structure of a naturalist novel, a st
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Approximate Word count = 1581
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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