Examples Of Naturalism In The Open Boat

A Movement of Its Own: A Case for Naturalism

Naturalism’s place within American literature is a debated topic to this day. Some academics believe that realism and naturalism are so closely related that they must be inclusive of the same movement; indeed, these academics argue that naturalism is part of the realism movement. On the other hand, others argue that naturalism has enough distinction from realism that it is deserving of its own movement, and considering the purpose in categorizing a movement is for one to be able to see the approaches an author takes when composing a text or to see commonality between various works, it is more useful to see naturalism as a separate movement than to see it as part of another. Therefore, it is advantageous to define what approaches realist authors, such as William Dean Howells and Kate Chopin, and naturalist authors, such …show more content…
However, in a speculative realism version of “The Open Boat,” the sinking of the Commodore would not have taken place; instead, middle class persons would have enjoyed a nice lunch on a steamboat while engaging in a common conversations with other middle class persons. Nevertheless, no teacups or steamboat picnics are present in the story. Crane wrote his story with a deeper-than-the-surface idea in mind—one that is clearly fits the tenants of naturalism, and if he were to write a realism story, it would have turned out vastly different. This is clear evidence that realism and naturalism are two separate movements. Calixta and Alcée were never in danger of the storm, and in the end, they went on with their lives as if the event never happened. If Calixta or Alcée were naturalistic characters, they would have faced dangers that brought out their inner conflicts, and because of it, the reader would have discovered something deeper about the characters or themselves. Instead, they live happily ever