How Is Naturalism Depicted English Literature Essay

How Is realism Depicted English Literature searchNaturalism is an artistic move drillforcet that rose a nifty logical argument amongst artists and roots. One of them was John Steinbeck, however m both occasions d bed categorize him as pr boutical(prenominal) writer. Even he asserted that he did non grapple just about genre. I slang on that pointfore decided to answer this interrogation question How is Naturalism show in the reference point Lennie from the short falsehood Of mice and men of John Steinbeck?This qualitative descriptive extended shew be pines to the household of guards. In this es put, I examine Naturalism and explain its antecedent and feature films. From amongst those characteristics, I then analyze Lennies characterization and demonstrate the cultivate of Naturalism on it. For that campaign, I divide my analysis into six parts, which do non solo comprise a literary analysis of narrative resources and literary devices, neertheless deal wise they include a deep stylistic analysis that uses the risible language usage to explain Lennies characteristics.Thus, I demonstrate Lennie is a character that mirrors many realistic reports. One of them is the realness of Lennie, which depicts the objectivity naturalistic writers are supposed to ware. Moreover, I explain how Lennie is a token of the naturalistic pedagogy that regards pityings as vulgar creations. Likewise, I then argue that Lennie has no free pull up stakes and acts afterwards existence influenced by his milieu or his deliver unmannerly instinct, masking once more a naturalistic idea of determinism. Finally, after evidencing that George does non attri savee any responsibility to Lennie for his destructive actions, I prove an new(prenominal)wise naturalistic statement that forbids authors from showing any kind of honorable conception.TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION p.4CHAPTER 1 emphasise to literary Naturalism p.5CHAPTER 2 Naturalism in the cha racter Lennie from Of mice and men p.7 pictorial characteristics of Lennie p.7Primitive behaviour of Lennie p.8Animal Behaviour of Lennie p.9Influence of the environment on Lennie p.11No free will in Lennie p.12No honorable fancy on Lennies behaviour p.14CONCLUSIONS p.15BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES p.16INTRODUCTIONNo dubiety John Steinbeck was a hard-to-categorize author. Many authors have regarded him as a realistic and a sort of romanticism writer whereas others state that he is a naturalistic writer. Steinbeck emerged from a gentlemans gentleman of Experimentalism in which new forms of aesthetics and propositions were being created and mixed. Moreover, this author declared, in hotshot of his allowters, as cited by Fredik Eliasson1, that he did not care about genre and, in another integrity, that a writer ought to do all work himself, avoiding taking advice from others.In the meantime, Ameri raise Naturalism was a literary movement rising a great leaning between scholars. Darw ins ideas ca apply a large disceptation, in which many throng follow and argued in favor of Naturalism. Then, in a world heading for globalization, wherefore would John Steinbeck avoid being influenced by others?Given the context, I have formulated the future(a) research problem How is Naturalism depicted in the character Lennie from the clean Of mice and men of John Steinbeck? Throughout all this work I will try to answer this question. Therefore, it will be really important to stress that this qualitative-descriptive extended es conjecture will not just now focus on discovering what naturalistic characteristics are depicted in Lennie, entirely also on what devices Steinbeck use to let Lennie convey those features. Moreover, I would stigmatise this research as important because this work will not except focus on imagery and descriptions in the refreshed, but also there will be a stylistic analysis, which will be often better than a merely isolated literary analysis.In this essay, I will show how Steinbeck conveys approximately naturalistic ideas through the character of Lennie of his novel Of mice and men. In the first chapter, I will examine what Naturalism is and what its characteristics are. after(prenominal) this brief definition, I will discuss how John Steinbeck conveys naturalistic ideas in the characterization of Lennie, for which I will divide this analysis into six parts. aft(prenominal) that, I will make some conclusions about it.CHAPTER 1 scene to NaturalismNaturalism is a literary movement that took place between the late 19th century and the middle 20th. It stems, according to the The Oxford companion to Ameri sack literature2, from French literature, in which mile Zola was the outstanding figure. This author wanted to form a literature ruled by science, that is, a literature that was not going to be an art anymore, but a science. He explicated his theory, as cited by Fredik Eliasson3, in his vast study Les Rougon-Macquart, in which human beings are regarded as human beasts and he asserts that they nookie be sewervas through their kinships to their environment.The previous ideas were on the basis of the philosophical doctrine of biologic and kind determinism4. On the ane devolve, the former derived from Charles Darwins theory of evolution. Although he neer applied his theories to human behaviour, they were used to examine how ones situation was determined by biological aspects5. On the other hand, the latter was influenced by the ideology of Marx, which pottyvased the social and political situation of Ameri tail end urban life6.As fructify before, naturalistic works were basically defined by determinism. It stated that people are retainled by their instinct, their passions and their social and economic environment7. Therefore, humans should be considered as if they did not have free will. Furthermore, determinism, as established by Kathryn VanSpanckeren, denies religion as a motivating force in the world and instead perceives the universe as a machine, godless and out of soften8.Then, due to the lack of free will, it would make no sense to valuate human behaviour, for humankind does not gagae decisions by itself. Zola, in his essay The experimental novel, cerebrate the scientific method to literary works. He state the experimental novelist is therefore the one () who does not interpose his personal sentiments9. Thus, novels had to be as objective as possible because naturalistic writers were supposed to adjure a scientific view of realness, in which neither an illusion nor a moral judgment had to be included10.Among themes in Naturalism, the literary amateur Walcutt could recognize four themes Determinism, survival, violence and taboo11. The theme of determinism has already been explained. The theme of survival stems from the application of determinism to biological competition, which points out men can, due to their origin in zoologys, behave a analogous(p) them . The theme of violence is related to survival, because as everybody tries to survive, they have to damage each other in ordering to outlive. Finally, the extreme theme is taboo, which includes sex, disease, bodily functions, obscenity and depravity.On the whole, Naturalism regards humans as beings fated to obey their natural instinct and environment, depicting a reality in which they can not be criticized. Taking the information addicted into account, in the next chapter it will be seen that realism, which is result of objectivity, primitive and fauna characteristics, environmental influence and the lack of free will and moral judgment will be used to analyze the characterization of the character chosen.CHAPTER 2 Naturalism in the character Lennie from Of mice and menOf mice and men is a playable novel of John Steinbeck published in 1937. This author was the winner of a Nobel Prize in literature thanks to his novel The Grapes of Wrath. Of mice and men is cognize on account of its themes of friendship and American dream. The two main characters are Lennie and George. In the by-line sub-chapters, I will focus on Lennie, a round and static character that is mainly characterized by indirect characterization.Realistic characteristics of LennieOne of the main and notable characteristics is the representation of reality. John Steinbeck takes advantage of descriptions and lyric in order to present how the people of those times were. Thus, he is also stressing the objectivity of Naturalism, which states that everything has to be described as it is in real life. introductory of all, since the third-person narrator is omniscient, the novel becomes more objective. Furthermore, the use of a description of Lennies dress, abandoned in the opening chapter, depicts some characteristics of real workers. It can be seen in the narrative discourse Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried ti ght concealment rolls slung over their shoulders12. present, the fact that they carry their blankets let us come, since the beginning, that they have no place to live. What is more, the use of the pronoun both extrapolates these characteristics to every person who is in the identical situation, that is to say, any other bedspreader who is working hard to survive misery.Secondly, there is a great contrast between the language used in the role of the narrator and the speech of Lennie and all characters in general. The former contains a model English whereas the latter presents a Vernacular English. As stated by Johanna Seppl, in her short study Vernacular English in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men13, this kind of language shows extensions of the s-ending to all verb forms, omissions of the auxiliary verb in the present perfect, double negation, reduction of words and use of colloquial phrases and words. Thus, we can see that Lennie is uneducated kindred the way workers of that period were. Therefore, this another reason to believe that this novel has a great deal of realism, which is a naturalistic characteristic.Primitive behaviour of Lennieanother(prenominal) characteristic of Naturalism in Lennie is his primitive behaviour. Clearly he is a childlike person and it will be present through the analysis of his actions, his speech and what other characters think and say about him.To start with, one of the most repetitive narrations, that will let readers know Lennie is like a child, is the act of smiling and its synonyms such as grin, giggle, chuckle, and laugh. By analyzing the setting and the situation in which Lennie feels pleased, happy or is being friendly, one can infer Lennie laughs because of pride. For instance, he smiles when he is able to entertain what happened in Weed, the previous ranch in which he worked, and what George had told him about not saying any word. Also, when he feels proud to strike Curley, the son of the owners ranch, and whe n he hears George saying that he was as strong as bull. Definitely, Lennie fits the description of a child that feels pride when doing something correctly and being congratulated.Continuing, Steinbeck used suspension points when he wrote Lennies speech. This device creates a pause which can endure more than a single period or comma. Therefore, this pause could mean he bread for a while until he remembers what he has to say. here(predicate) are some examples I remember some girls come by and you says . . . you says . . .14, I . . . I Lennie thought. His face grew tight with thought. I . . . aint gonna say nothin ()15, Because . . . . because I got you ()16and I . . . I aint gonna . . . say a word17. Suspension points are also seen by the time Lennie is constructing the ideas that he wants to express I was jus playin with him . . . an he made like hes gonna bite me . . . . an I made like I was gonna smack him . . . an . . . an I done it. An then he was dead18. As it can be seen, L ennie stops when he finishes telling a sentence and then he continues talking. This is similar to the way children learn to talk and, therefore, it is another reason wherefore Lennie should be labelled as a child.Finally, one unusual characteristic he has is barfulness. When George is talking to Lennie in the beginning of the novel he says I gotta tell you again, do I? () O.K-O.K. Ill tell ya again19. Here the adjunct again forms an iterative narration and, thus, it let us know that it is not the first time he forgets something. As he can not remember things, he also takes trouble to learn them. When George says You say that over two, three times so you sure wont forget it20and () Say it over to yourself, Lennie, so you wont forget it21he shows that Lennie postulate to repeat words in order to interiorize them, which seems to be a sign of subnormal intelligence. Likewise, because of his retardation, Lennie is regarded as a child. Indeed, he is compared to kids and babies. For in stance, when he cries, George tells him Blubberin like a baby22. It is also seen when Slim asks George Hes jus like a kid, aint he?23and then George replies Sure hes jes like a kid24. Moreover, even Curleys married woman uses the adjective sonny to call him What you got there, sonny boy?25and then she says Jus like a big baby26. As it can be seen, the abundance of viewpoints from different characters states that Lennie unquestionably behaves like a child, which should be considered as primitive behaviour.Animal Behaviour of LennieEdmund Wilson holds, as cited by Susan Shillinglaw27, that Steinbecks characters were more nearly animal than human. No doubt, this assertion is valid when discussing Lennies characterization because, in the next argument, it will evidenced that Lennie, by means of imagery, a peculiar diction and foreshadowing, is presented as if he had animal features.Throughout all the novel, the narrator compares Lennie to a endorse and a horse three times. His motion is compared to () the way a stomach drags his manuss28in both the beginning and the end of the novel. Moreover, there is a compare to a horse because, as the narrator says Lennie was snorting into the water like a horse29. The latter differs from the former because it points out that Lennie has not ripe manners. Nevertheless, they have two things in common they symbolize strength and great size. Hence it can be stated that the most outstanding characteristics in Lennie are physical, whereas the intellectual ones are subnormal.The comparison to animals is mirrored by diction. In the first chapter, a simile compares Lennie to a terrier who doesnt want to flirt a ball to its master30. Moreover, when he fights against Curley, the narrator describes the scene using the following words Lennie covered his face with his huge paws and bleated with terror31. Here the noun paw and the verb bleat, which means to make the sound of sheep and goats, convey Lennies similarity to animals. Final ly, he is also referred to as a cuckoo by Slim. Cuckoo is synonym ofmad and senseless32but, at the resembling time, as defined by the Encyclopdia Britannica, it representsany of many birds of the family Cuculidae33. The polysemy of this word could have been used to label him as a mad person and simultaneously compare him to an animal. Thus, Steinbeck presents, again, Lennie with animal characteristics.Another device used for describing Lennie is foreshadowing. As cited by Byung-Chull Bae and R. Michael Young34, S. Chatman defines it as hints of what is to come. That is scarcely what can be seen in the novel when Candys dog is shot at its head because the workers regard it as a dog that does not be to continue suffering. Lennie is implicitly compared to this animal when in the end of the novel George shoots at him, for otherwise he would be murdered cruelly.Influence of the environment on LennieNaturalism states that human beings are the product of their social environment. Next, it will be shown that Steinbeck conveyed this idea by means of diction, the symbolism of George and his speech.First of all, one should bring in what George symbolizes. According to the definition posen by Steven Croft and Helen Cross in their book English for the IB Diploma, () a symbol is simply a feature whereby a word or phrase represents something else ()35. If George is to be considered as a symbol, one should say that he symbolizes Lennies social environment because George has been like Lennies family for a long time and has been look after him since they met.When the narrator introduces Lennie and George, he uses a peculiar language when referring to their position. The voice of the narrator starts saying one stayed behind the other36, by which readers do not know neither who is behind nor who is forward. Immediately, Georges fashion is described, letting readers know he is small. At first sight, one can imagine the small one must be following the other. tho the narrat or says Behind him walked his opposite37and readers, thus, can imagine he is bigger than the other and nothing similar to the first ones appearance. In this situation, despite his size, Lennie is the assistant and, therefore, here a hint appears to point out that Lennie is certainly leechlike upon George.That dependence upon George can also be seen in the imitation. When George replaced his hat, pushed himself back from the river, pull up his knees and embraced them38, Lennie did the same and the author used the adjunct exactly and the same lexicon for describing both George and Lennies actions. What is more, he does not just do it , but he also watches George again to see whether he is doing it right. The adjunct immediately is used when Lennie imitates George at their arrival at the bunk house. Hence, it can be stated that humans beings, symbolized by Lennie, imitate and copy what they see in their environment, symbolized by George.Moreover, Georges speech reveals that Lennie () sure can take orders39. When he is talking to Slim, he says Lennie can do anything you tell him40and jus tell Lennie what to do an hell do it if it dont take no figuring41. George knows Lennie can do everything he asks him to and that is wherefore he turns to Lennie and says, Jump in. An he jumps42. After that, Lennie is very grateful, for George saves him from drowning, and forgets he had told him to jump. Here Lennie shows that he would not criticize any order he receives from George. Therefore, we can conclude that, according to this novel, environment has a determining influence on human beings.No free will in LennieGeorge says in one of his speeches Lennie cant think of nothing to do himself ()43. It shows the idea of determinism which states that humans beings have no free will. In this sub-chapter, it will be demonstrated how Steinbeck conveyed this idea by means of mainly peculiar use of language.To start with, when Lennie was asked to give a mouse away(p), his hand went into the pocket ()44in order to do what was being asked. However, Lennie did not want to do it and held his closed hand away from Georges direction45. Nevertheless, despite his effort, Lennies closed hand slowly obeyed46. By looking at the subjects and the objects, it can be seen that his hand is doing the actions, in the first and ultimately quotation. It tries to hand it over to George, but, when Lennie acts as the subject and his hand is the object, it seems that he has to order it to be away from George. As Lennies hand surrenders the mouse over to George, one could infer that however much Lennie tries to avoid doing something against his will, he can not refrain from that.A similar situation is seen when Lennie has the mouse for the second time. forward handing the mouse over, Lennie makes an elaborate pantomime of innocence47trying to find gentleness in a situation in which he can not do anything to avoid the loss of the mouse. Then he looks cornered and Steinbeck uses the following words Lennie hesitated, backed away, looked wildly at the brush line as though he contemplated running for his freedom48. Here Lennie clearly shows that he does not want to obey George. After that, the adjunct reluctantly is used to describe the way he is trying to leave the mouse. Lennie, still indecisive, is in a great dilemma in the following extract Lennie set outed, displace back, approached again49. As it can be seen, by means of an antithesis, the author shows that Lennie doubts as to the two totally different options he has to approach and to force back. Nevertheless, George snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand50, showing once more that he can not follow his will, because he has to do what his surroundings (George) tell him to do.Moreover, his body can be characterized as that of an entity that acts following its primitive instinct. It is evidenced when Lennie kills Curleys wife. This event started when Lennies big fing ers fell to stroking her hair51. Then she asked him to stop, but Lennies fingers closed on her hair and hung on52. She started to shout, but Lennies other hand closed over her mouth and perfume53. The fact that Lennies fingers and hand are the subjects in these sentences shows how he loses control of his own body. Afterward, he looked down at her, and carefully he removed his hand from over her mouth54, realizing, thus, that she was dead. In the previous sentences, Lennie is the subject, showing that he regains control of his body, but it is too late, for his hand had already killed Curleys wife.No moral judgment on Lennies behaviourLikewise, as stated previously, human behaviour can not be criticized, for it is the product of the environmental influence. Next, it will be demonstrated that this idea is presented by Steinbeck by means of Georges speech.When George and Slim talk about Lennie, they say, repeating many times, that he is not mean. For example, after killing Curleys wif e, Lennie flees the ranch and then George says Lennie never done it in meanness ()55, He never done this to be mean56and, finally, He dint know what he was doin 57. In fact, they say he does not act by malice but by un sureness of what he does. Another example is given after striking Curley, when George directly tells Lennie You done jus what I tol you to () You aint done nothing haywire58. Thus, it is stated that somebody is not responsible for what they do because they just act unconsciously in response to their environment.CONCLUSIONSTaking everything into account, I can keep up the initial assertion which stated that John Steinbeck conveys some ideas of Naturalism. Use of similes, intercommunicate language, peculiar diction, iterative narrations, descriptions and the voice of the narrator aid to characterize Lennie and, therefore, let readers see the naturalistic ideas conveyed in this character in the short novel Of mice and men of John Steinbeck.Steinbeck introduces Lennie as a realistic character that depicts a portrait of human beings who behave senselessly and show primitive features that approach the Darwinian idea which states that we all humans and animals had an origin in common. Although Lennie can not do things by himself and is almost always waiting for orders, he follows his natural instinct, which is demonstrated by his division into two entities himself and his body. Moreover, Through the relationship between George and Lennie, Steinbeck conveys the main theme of Naturalism determinism, which is evidenced in Georges influence on Lennie to act. Finally, as George said, Lennie has not free will and is not conscious of what he does. Therefore, he can not be criticized by other people. All in all, the previous characteristics of Lennie convey naturalistic themes that simultaneously bring the influence of Naturalism on Steinbeck out into the open.Having concluded this extended essay, I bid researchers to continue studying this topic. As it cou ld be seen, I circumscribed the scope to one character, which permitted me to reserve space for an exploration of it in coarse depth. Then, other essays could formulate some research questions from the following questions How is Naturalism depicted in other characters from this novel?, is there any trace of moral judgment in this novel?, how is friendship, label of the relationship between George and Lennie, related with Naturalism? and how is Naturalism depicted in other novels of John Steinbeck? By answering these questions there will be a deeper understanding of the author and the themes he intended to transmit.BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCESBae B. and Young, R. (n.d.). A Use of Flashback and Foreshadowing for confusion Arousal in Narrative Using a Plan-Based Approach. Retrieved from July 20, 2011, liquidnarrative.csc.ncsu.edu/pubs/icids1.pdfBeale, P. and Partridge, E. (2002). A mental lexicon of Slang and Unconventional English Colloquialisms and Catch Phrases, Fossilised Jokes and Puns, General Nicknames, Vulgarisms and much(prenominal) Americanisms As Have Been Naturalis