The Mirror And The Cracks English Literature Essay

The early nineteenth to the early 20th century was the place of birth of two different literary motions. Realism was the first of the two motions get downing in the early 19th century. Realism was more about reflecting society ‘s jobs to do the in-between category aware. Naturalism a darker signifier of literature occupied the 1870 ‘s and 1880 ‘s and did non last every bit long as pragmatism. Naturalism was a more aggressive signifier of literature based on the belief that adult male equals the amount of his heredity plus his environment. In kernel Realism is the mirror, a helpful tool in leting society to truly see and halt being blind while Naturalism is a cleft in the caput with the mirror. Realism shows a true word picture of societal life and its jobs but with the hope of improvement and Naturalism is merely a word picture of societal jobs with no hope of improvement.

Realism was an effort of authors to floor the populace with a true word picture of life. The end of the realist author was to demo society the truth and reflect it back to them even if it was an ugly truth. The realist ‘s tried to educate the reader and had a strong accent on humane apprehension. The Naturalist took a more negative mentality in which, life was mechanistic. Just a series of gestures and if you were lucky you were born rich if non the battle continued on and on. The realist ‘s topics were that of in-between category households with a in-between category comfy place. Most of the characters are perusing a better life and have more mercenary ends. The realist author saw philistinism as a job that needed to be addressed in society. The naturalist in contrast had lower category topics who genuinely needed their fortunes improved. There seems to be no end in the characters minds except for endurance in the conditions that life has given. During the period of Realism and Naturalism there was a rift between the chase of the American dream and really accomplishing the Dream. The Realist author like Mark Twain did non give up on the American dream despite the societal jobs of the clip. The Naturalist author Ambrose Bierce nevertheless did non believe in the accomplishment of the American Dream. There was no hope for a better life ; a individual got what was given.

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The author Ambrose Bierce wrote Chickamauga, in which two different conflicts fury with the devastation being entire in each. Death dominated Bierce ‘s authorship and so did a black mentality. Having been through the civil war this is really apprehensible. Bierce ‘s authorship was more of a European manner of Naturalism doing the observation of his capable wholly scientific and cold. The reader is non supposed to experience for the instance survey simply to watch and larn. Even though the authors of Realism were to be detached and nonsubjective in order to supply an accurate observation that did non intend that the reader could non experience for the characters. In Naturalism nevertheless the reader was supposed to be detached and nonsubjective from the characters every bit good.

In Chickamauga the conflict of a lost small male child is fought right following to an existent conflict of the Civil War in both of which the results are fazing. Both conflicts are lost the soldiers lose lives and organic structure parts and the immature male child loses his naif artlessness. There is a kid in this narrative who is simply that, a kid, no name is of all time given to assist the reader distance any emotions. The kid seems wild and disrespectful at one point in the narrative even seeking to play a game with the clump of deceasing soldiers. The kid even dances around a combustion house in a exultant unworried manner. Then the temper alterations as a expression of acknowledgment crosses the boys face and he realizes that it is his house combustion. Bierce makes it to where there is small empathy for this kid until the terminal. It all started out as a game and in the terminal he lost his place, he saw his female parent ‘s life oozed from her, and he was entirely in the silence of his universe. There is no sense of a dream in this narrative merely the devastation of world with no hope merely devastation. That is Naturalism blunt and to the atrocious ugly truth. In the terminal we are all entirely contending a useless conflict against society, nature, and ourselves.

Mark Twain ‘s Life on the Mississippi is the incarnation of the dream of a better life even if that dream did non turn out rather as hoped. Life on the Mississippi is a memoir of the steamboat epoch before the civil war. So automatically Twain ‘s point of view is traveling to contrast with Bierce ‘s station war position. Life on the Mississippi is more blithe and the character is a batch more sympathetic than the kid in Bierce ‘s narrative. This male child is prosecuting his American Dream of being a steamboat pilot. In this narrative Twain does a singular occupation of demoing the reader merely how built up the occupation was in the male childs caput. The occupation was so grandiose and exciting until the male child found out what all the occupation entailed of. At one point in the narrative the male child says “ Here was something fresh – this thing acquiring up in the center of the dark to travel to work ” . This is typical of many people a occupation seems so antic until it is figured out that one really has to work and is non merely given a rubric. The male child even goes on to state “ I began to fear that flying was non rather so romantic as I had imagined it was ; there was something really existent and worklike about this new stage of it ” . Twain captures the dreams of young person and puts a really touchable connexion through to the reader. Even though the dream takes work it is non lost unlike in Bierce ‘s authorship where there is no dream. In Life on the Mississippi the world of the dream is still exciting even if it is more work.

For the realist life was a conflict that could be won. For the naturalist life was merely a conflict with no opportunity of endurance. Both Realism and Naturalism attempted to floor their audience it is merely Naturalism went a small excessively far. In Naturalism there was no hope merely nonmeaningful beings in which things normally go from bad to worse. There is nil lighthearted about the Naturalistic fiction merely a negative mentality. The Realist author worked to better societies mercenary hungriness but with the hope for alteration. Realism did non give up on the dream Naturalism did non see a dream.

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