Realism: As a general term, realism refers to any effort to offer an accurate and detailed portrayal of actual life. More specifically, realism refers to a literary method developed in the 19th century. The realists based their writing on careful observations of ordinary life, often focusing on the middle or lower classes. They attempted to present life objectively and honestly, without the sentimentality or idealism that had colored earlier literature. Typically, realists developed their settings in great detail in an effort to recreate a specific time and place for the reader.
Naturalism: An extreme form of realism, naturalism in fiction involves the depiction of life objectively and precisely, without idealizing. However, the naturalist creates characters who are victims of environmental forces and internal drives beyond their comprehension and control. Naturalistic fiction conveys the belief that universal forces result in an indifference to human suffering. To Build a Fire can be defined as a naturalist work due to the actions and events that take place within the story. The main character faces events that he had no control over and therefore could not do anything to avoid the events that took place. The story takes place in a area everything is dominated by the forces of nature. Due to this fact, the main character has hardly any control over what he can chose to do. With the barren cold upon him, he faces the factors of his body freezing as well as the terrors of being alone and in the wilderness of the North. In the story he also has a dog that follows him so many would say that he is not completely alone. He faces the task of building a fire every time he settles down for the day. This skill becomes the sole thing that he relies on for life every day. When he falls into a waist deep river where he could not tell that the ice was weak. This also shows that the story is a Naturalist work because he had no control over anything when he fell through. The main character then faces the challenge of starting a fire to warm himself up. He cannot start the fire and then passes away due to the frost. This is a naturalist work because he had no control over his fate while walking his way to the camp. The weather and the ice could not be controlled by the protagonist and the environment was hostilely depicted.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Alex FujaPart time nerd, Full time geek. Archives
June 2016
Categories |