Didacticism in Frank Norris' McTeague Frank Norris' Mcteague's niche in American Literature has been characterized again and again as strictly Naturalist. The novel does well in this genre. Among other things, it is a scientific, representative, pessimistic study of the common people or lower and middle classes which ultimately ends in tragedy. It is not the purpose of this essay to dispute these qualifications; rather to question the genre itself. The scientific novel is impossible for a variety of reasons. Practitioners of Naturalism, including Norris, attempted to create representative characters with inherited biological traits (traits which they have no control over), plant these characters in a meticulously defined setting, and produce/predict the resulting behavior. The naturalistic novel relies on the assumption that this behavior is, indeed, predictable. This assumption is, at the very least, questionable. The Scientific Method, in its simplest form, is essentially made up of four basic elements. According to an on-line encyclopedia, they are as follows: 1. Characterization (Quantification, observation and measurement) 2. Hypothesis (An explanation of the Characterization) 3. Prediction (Logical deduction from the hypothesis 4. Experiment (Test of all of the above) It is not the intent of this essay to investigate whether Dreiser, Zola, London or other Naturalists practiced these methods successfully within the context of the novel. It is clear however, that Norris did not. Mcteague may successfully incorporate the observatory and explanatory elements of the Scientific method as well as other nuances of the Naturalistic genre; however, his study is worthless without elements three and four. It is these elements, moreover, the logical deduction from the hypothesis and the testing of the other elements to prove consistency which are practically impossible for a writer of fiction to accomplish. Character, setting and nearly ever aspect of a novel are not mere observations of the physical world but are created in the subjective mind of the author. It must be conceded, then, that Naturalism, like most literary genres and movements is neither definitive nor rational. At most, it is an application of somewhat murky scientific values to fiction, and nothing more. If Norris' McTeague does not, then, produce a rational conclusion to hypotheses and experimentation in and scientific manner, what is the novel's function? One significant consideration (in the attempt to answer this) may be the novel's adaptation into a silent film in 1924: Greed. The title alone is significant. It is not the story of Mcteague or even the story of San Francisco.
The novel The Natural is written by Bernard Malamud. Bernard was a famous author mainly known for writing short stories and novels. He was considered one of the great American Jewish authors of the 20th century. Bernard was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants and he had a brother named Eugene. Unfortunately, Malamud entered his adolescence when the Great Depression began. The Natural is one of his more famous books, which was written in 1952. This novel is about a baseball prodigy named Roy Hobbs. He has a bat that he made himself, which he calls Wonderboy. Roy plans to join the major leagues and break all the records. However, his plans are put on hold when a woman he meets shoots. After fifteen years after the tragedy Roy goes back to baseball and is drafted to the New York Knights. Along his journey to becoming a superstar he is distracted from his goal by the women in his life. The Natural is very much similar to the mythological story of Perceval, the Story of the Holy Grail. Roy Hobbs is comparable to Perceval, Pop Fisher to the Fisher King and the pennant to the Holy Grail.
Every individual has two lives, the life we live, and the life we live after that. Nobody is perfect, but if one works hard enough, he or she can stay away from failure. The Natural is a novel written by Bernard Malamud. It is Malamud’s first novel that initially received mixed reactions but afterwards, it was regarded as an outstanding piece of literature. It is a story about Roy Hobbs who after making mistakes in his life, he returns the bribery money and is left with self-hatred for mistakes he has done. Hobbs was a baseball player who aspired to be famous, but because of his carnal and materialistic desire, his quest for heroism failed, as he was left with nothing. In the modern world, the quest for heroism is a difficult struggle, and this can be seen through the protagonist in The Natural.
Deadly and helpful, science is a dual-edged sword. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the first to emphasize this through his literary works. “Rappaccini's Daughter” and “The Birthmark” are two of his works where he teaches this lesson through the trials of his characters. Focusing on the motif of the “mad scientist”, Hawthorne brings to light the points that people struggle with humanity, learning to love themselves and others, and that science can be more harmful then helpful.
Many people assume that science is persistently correct in numerous ways because of its research and innovation provided in today’s society. However, in the stories The Harvest and Going written by Amy Hempel, the author compares the distraught characters to scorpion like tendencies to attest that humans resemble animals, unreasonably more than science text books have lead us to believe. Conversely, it has become common today to dismiss this argument due to Hempel’s intricate writing style.
Shelley, Mary. "From Frankenstein." The Example of Science. Ed. Robert E Lynch and Thomas B. Swanzey. New York: Pearson Publishing, 2000. 152-156.
Jack London, who lived in the 19th century, and Edward Estlin Cummings, who lived in the 20th century, experienced many drastic changes from their era that would ultimately change the way they lived their lives, thought, and wrote. For London, writing was being changed in the sense that it was taking a less traditional approach, in favor for a more scientific approach. The period of naturalism is most commonly referred to as a period that was broken off of realism. However, some argue that naturalism is not just a piece broken off from realism, but rather an answer to the period of realism. "Naturalism is, in fact, viewed as a response to Realism" (Schoenberg). Although Realism and Naturalism share similar characteristics such as trying to effectively describe humans, they differ greatly in the way they try to achieve it. Naturalism trys to describe humans and the way they act exclusively by usin...
With the advancement of technology and science, we are now able to genetically modify animals. Mary Shelley found a way to make science an epitome, and confirms what could happen if science is taken too far. In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is considered to be a historical novel, based on scientific advancements. In this novel Shelley depicts her own definition of human nature, by showing the creature and the ways that humans react to him. The novel also showed the differences between morality and science.
During the March 1986 edition of the Journal of Modern Literature, Lee Clark Mitchell of Princeton University opens his article “‘Keeping His Head’: Repetition and Responsibility in London’s ‘To Build a Fire’” by critiquing naturalism’s style of storytelling. Mitchell claims naturalism as a slow, dull, and plain way of capturing an audience; and Jack London is the epitome of this description. Mitchell states, “[London’s] very methods of composition prompt a certain skepticism; the speed with which he wrote, his suspiciously childish plots…have all convinced readers to ignore the technical aspects of h...
Butler, Marilyn. "Frankenstein and Radical Science." Reprinted in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Norton Critical Edition. 1993; New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. 302-313.
Throughout the story, Malamud uses all types of imagery to display important events, Roy’s accomplishments, and characters relationships. The imagery takes hold of the reader and makes the story appealing and tasteful. The Natural, by Bernard Malamud, uses beautiful and colorful imagery that makes the overall story an interesting and enjoyable read.
Pizer, unlike many of the previous critics, has a great knowledge of the concepts of naturalism and Social Darwinism. He sees that “a central theme in Norris’ work is that beneath the surface of our placid, everyday lives there is turbulence, that the romance of the extraordinary is not limited to the distance in time and place but can be found “in the brownstone of the office building downtown”” (309). Pizer also notes that “some of the best moments in the novel powerfully these two stems of the commonplace and the extraordinary” (309). Although had originally hated McTeague, it has become known as one of the most used examples of naturalism and Social Darwinism in schools and education
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
Seen as one of the most influential realist writers of his time, Frank Norris changed the foundation of American Naturalism. McTeague is a novel that depicts the complexities found within a society that abides by the law of Social Darwinism. It portrays the animal like behaviors that are present during our subconscious actions. Along with McTeague, his trilogy, starting with The Octopus, showed the tough times that Americans had to overcome in the wheat farming industry. They dealt with rail workers that were ruthless and made their jobs tougher. Norris’s novel made significant contributions to the shape and direction of American literature; it is a touchstone for important developments in American cultural history.
Baym, Franklin, Gottesman, Holland, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1994.
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.