Magical realism is used by writers to mix reality and fantasy creating a world of mystery, doubt, and unexplained possibilities. In the “Definition and Locations: Magical Realism between Modern and Post-Modern Fiction” Wendy Faris draws a connection between real life and fiction, merging two worlds into one, arising doubt, wonder, and a bridge between fantasy and people’s actions and attitudes. Martin Amis is a writer who uses Magical realism in his fabulous story “The Immortal”. He exemplifies the standard of Magical Realism by forcing his reader to experience severe doubt throughout the piece combining several realms into one experience, as well as the “disturbed ideas about time, space, and identity” (Faris 7).
In the short story “The Immortal” there is a lingering, partly because the story takes place in such an abstract way. It is being told as real and the timeline is kept in accordance with the true history of the world and the events described can be seen as being absolutely plausible. But the fact that the author talks about himself as being there for a long time is unreal. He says that he has seen events that took many hundreds, thousands, even millions of years, which makes the reader wonder if he really is immortal, while the events in his story are not and are seen passing through in time. By describing two incomparable worlds—one being his world where he is immortal and time does not matter and the other world, which is constantly ending and dying.
The writer psychologically tries to influence the mind of the reader creating an unstable image of the place that he is describing and leaving some parts to the imagination. It is a great tactic because instead of using particular words that describe this conflict of realities, he leaves the reader’s imagination an option of thinking up something that they themselves feel and think.
This way the writer connects with the reader submerging them into the story and leaving them to wonder what he really meant.
There are techniques that Martin Amis uses in his story to leave a person guessing. “…I was born, or I appeared or materialized or beamed down, near the city of Kampala, Uganda, in Africa” (Amis 1). In this quote the narrator creates doubt from the very beginning, suggesting other possibilities of him appearing in the world. Emotion is also being used by the author to show how tired the narrator is of his life. He has seen it all and by constantly saying that he will stay alone after everyone dies he is almost admitting that even though he says he doesn’t need anybody, there is still pity in the way he repeats that everyone will be gone and he will be left alone. The fact that he repeatedly talks about his loneliness and at the same time criticizes the people that they don’t understand anything and their lives are pointless, seems almost as if he is trying to convince himself that he does not need anybody that he is well off by himself, but immediately he states that there is nothing else left for him to do since he tried everything and has grown extremely tired of it all. The narrator mentions that possibly he is a delusional school teacher who is seen as traveling through time and he gives a brief explanation of events that he has experienced along his “immortal” journey. He almost unnoticeably links together his immortality, all he went through and the slight possibility that he might be delusional and is imagining all of this just as other people. In this style of writing and the story itself there is a connection between Martin Amis who uses the play of words along with truthful recollection of episodes and the schoolteacher—both having a mystical and very intriguing character.
By using magic and mixing it with the real world the writer wants to create other possibilities of interpretation for the reader.
He sets out an idea that there is another world—a phenomenal one that spreads its influence and unreal nature on the world where people are temporary inhabitants and are fragile (Faris 14).
There is an illusion of the two realms of reality becoming one where the strength of time, nature and immortality is compared to the fragile bodies of humans, which are filled with illness.
It describes an everlasting fight for survival with nature and time, and a human insignificant imprint that will be very temporary, while everything eventually will return to a state of peace and quiet.
Martin Amis delusional schoolmaster has thoughts and actions directly comparable to that of actual humanity. Some of the magical elements portrayed in “The Immortal” may indeed be based on events that are written down in the history books, and it may very well forecast the apocalyptic doom of humanity. Until then, humans will not know how we meet our maker, but the attitude toward reality is the same in either case. The multifaceted fiction that incorporates unsettling doubts, the merging of multiple realms and alternative thoughts about time and space, are all an effort to understand the relationship between man and his doom.
References
Amis, Martin. Einstein’s Monster, London: Jonathan Cape, 1987. Print.
This journal reflects on my experience reading Realist texts found in Volume E of The Norton Reader, including biographies of Henrik Ibsen, Rabindranath Tagore, and Higuchi Ichiyo, as well as their respective works, “Hedda Gabler,” “The Punishment,” and “Separate Ways.” By exploring these questions, I will attempt to explain how these texts demonstrate the growing popularity of Realism as a literary style in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and how their authors’ messages are reflected in the stories’ endings.
Realism is often characterized by its focus on the mundane, everyday details of characters’ lives and their struggles with social pressure and conventions. Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” best reflects this as it follows protagonist Hedda’s struggles with her feelings of boredom and her attempts to assert her own will against society’s expectations. Tagore’s “The Punishment” similarly focuses on the struggles of its protagonist, Jogendra, as he is forced to confront the consequences of his actions and the rigid social conventions that dictate how people should behave. Ichiyo’s “Separate Ways” is also a story of characters dealing with the expectations of society and their upbringing as protagonist O-Nobu attempts to find her place in the world.
There are some significant differences between Eastern Realism and the Realism that we see in the West, exemplified by Henrik Ibsen. Eastern Realism emphasizes the spiritual and metaphysical aspects of human existence, whereas Western Realism tends to focus on the psychological and sociological elements of humanity. Eastern Realism also typically features a greater emphasis on the themes of fatalism, destiny, and fate. In contrast, Western Realism focuses more on individuals’ ability to shape their destinies. Additionally, Eastern Realism often focuses on karma or the notion that our actions have consequences that we must face in this life or the next. This distinction between Eastern and Western Realism is significant because it highlights the unique ways in which different cultures perceive and express their understanding of the human condition.
The growth of Realism as a literary style in the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be attributed to the growing sense of individualism in the world at that time. As the world became increasingly globalized and the concept of self-determination became more accepted, the need to explore the individual’s struggle with the conventions of society grew more robust. This is reflected in the works of Ibsen, Tagore, and Ichiyo, who each focus on the individual’s journey of self-exploration and the obstacles they must overcome to find their place in the world.
The text that affected me the most in this section was Tagore’s “The Punishment.” The story of Jogendra’s journey of self-discovery and his ultimate acceptance of punishment resonated with me. In my own life, I have struggled with society’s expectations, particularly concerning my career path. Although I haven’t faced the same kind of physical punishment as Jogendra, I have met the consequences of going against the grain and the guilt and regret that comes with it.
The endings of the stories in this section are all somewhat shocking and “neat.” I believe this is because the authors wanted to emphasize the themes of individualism and self-determination they were exploring. Ending the stories shows how the characters overcame society’s obstacles and found their sense of identity and autonomy. These are essential lessons people could employ today to reach their personal goals and gain their place in society.
The storybook “A very old Man with Enormous Wings”, by Garcia Marquez, is an example of magical realism. This style combines imagination and realism, whereby the common real-life events are presented with some elements of fantasy, blurring the reader’s conceptions of magic and reality.
Magical realism, unlike other literary works such as folk tales, ends with no clear moral lessons or truths (Zamora and Faris 79); instead, they present vivid magical stories that frustrate the reader and complicate the reader’s conception of the meaning of events.
This story describes an angel visitation into a town. The town is not like any other common town, and the visiting angel is not an ordinary angel. In many aspects, the visitor appears human and natural, in spite of his extraordinary physique. As a result, this visitor contradicts the expectations of the town’s inhabitants, and by extension, they are unable to understand the visitor.
Their superstitious beliefs and wisdom only drives them to making incorrect explanations for the visitor’s presence in the town. Subsequently, they treat the visitor with cruelty and injustice, which reflects their ignorance. Although the story is subtitled, “A Tale for Children”, the characters, and the settings are not ordinary. It is a story where reality and fantasy are split concerning the reader’s expectations about the angel’s arrival and departure.
The major Themes in the Story
The story describes two crucial supernatural events viz. “the old man with enormous wings” and the “girl who turned into a spider” (Marquez 446). The characters in the story regard the old man as a supernatural oddity who appears frail, and this perception raises an endless debate over his status as an angel.
In Father Gonzaga’s opinion, the old man does not qualify as an angel because he has neither dignity nor splendor (Marquez 446). However, the old man displays a supernatural characteristic: incredible patience despite the cruelty from the people.
By contrast, the spider girl’s status as a spider does not generate much debate: her status being accepted as the result of her disobedience to her parents. This shows satire whereby straightforward morality stories are accepted as true (as exemplified by the spider-girl) while frailty and complexity (the old man character) is ridiculed (Marquez 448).
By using the two supernatural characters, the writer identifies the misperception of the old man in the town (reality) and ridicules the society’s appreciation of the simpler supernatural explanation of the spider-girl.
The distinction between supernatural and natural is also unclear. Pelayo regards the invasion by angels or crabs as equal nuisances. He does not see any distinction between a supernatural oddity (angels) and a natural one (crabs). In fact, Pelayo and Elsienda construct their mansion purposely to keep a way angels and crabs. The arrival of the Old Man is described in vivid details; “his angelic wings were in mud and crippled” (Marquez 449).
At one point, he is described as “an old vulture” and as “large decrepit hen in the midst of chickens” (Marquez 449). These statements largely blur the boundary between the supernatural and natural phenomena. In this regard, Marquez may be implying that such a distinction is not necessary, giving rise to different interpretations of the phenomena.
The Old Man is described both as a human and as an animal. For father Gonzaga, the Old Man is not a real angel as he lacks dignity expected of angels. By contrast, Pelayo and Elisenda believe he is a sailor. Although the Old Man bears some human characteristics, the people subject him to inhumane treatment. He is kept in a chicken pen and feeds on chicken mush (Marquez 451). By contrast, the spider-girl, whose features are far from human, is more appealing to the people because her story is simpler and moralizing.
The story starts with strange references to time. The statements, “on the third day of the rainy season” and the “world had been unhappy since Tuesday” (Marquez 452), conflate the weather and time in a mythical way. Furthermore, the world appears supernatural rather than real. The invasion by crabs and angels appear supernatural.
The people respond to the invasions with anger and confusion especially with regard to the Old Man. He appears an angel with unusually ordinary features. In this case, Marquez uses surreal techniques to combine the profane and the holy. Additionally, Marquez combines many real and supernatural elements in this story. For instance, Pelayo and Elisenda, at first were shocked by the man’s appearance, but “later overcame their surprise and considered him familiar”.
However, Marquez offers no reason the sudden change of heart. This technique is common in legendary tales where largely supernatural events happen with no causal explanation (Charters 185). Marquez‘s use of this technique is to balance realistic details and the mythical lack of causal explanation.
In this context, the realistic and magical coexist, a phenomenon that blurs the distinction between the two. The author also uses other motifs such as the angel’s language to combine realism and magic. The angel’s dialect resembles that of sailors; however, no one understands him and consequently mistreats him. In other words, they respond to divinity with indifference, which blurs the distinction between realism and magic.
Conclusion
The story presents the different human interpretations of supernatural and natural events. The visit by the Old Man is interpreted in many ways by the characters in the book. They try to interpret the old man in terms of their own lives. The author uses motifs that blur the distinction between realism and magic in the interpretations of the Old Man and the Spider-girl.
Works Cited
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer Compact: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston: Bedford, 2010.
Marquez, Gabriel. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” In Ann Charters (Ed), The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (pp. 446-452). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011.
Zamora, Parkinson, and Wendy Faris. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. London: Duke University Press, 1995.
“Slumdog Millionaire” is a novel that was written by Vikas Swarup. The novel was later filmed because many people had showed a lot of interest in the book. Swarup in his novel portrays the adventures of Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphaned and uneducated waiter from one of the biggest slums in Asia.
Ram was found piled up with clothes that had been donated at the Delhi church in Mumbai. He was adopted and raised up by the priest who was later murdered. Ram wins a billion rupees on a quiz show where he answers twelve questions. He later ends up being taken to jail accused of cheating in the concert. Ram meets a lawyer, Smita Shah to whom he explains his fortune in answering the twelve questions.
He says that all questions were based on his own experience in life and that is why he found it easy answering all the twelve questions. Ram portrays how the best man wins with only little luck. All the adventures of Ram are seen to be real as they can be depicted in real life situations.
Some of the aspects making the novel to seem real are its connection to the Indian society and the story fairy tale elements. There are other ways in which realism has been brought out and with this the discussion shall be aimed at proving the reality in the novel (Singh 68).
Discussion
Vikas Swarup has used various styles in his work that make it realistic. His way of organizing his work is also in a way that brings out realism in a very clear and simple way. His descriptions of the characters are also supporting factors to bring out realism in his novel. This realism in the novel is what made it popular and made it to be filmed so that many could access the written work. The ways in which realism is brought out in the novel are as analyzed below (Smith 50).
(I) Realistic fiction
Setting and half truths
Setting of the novel makes it seem real. The story begins in jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is a hostage after he was arrested by the police with accusations of cheating. Ram has never been in school and yet he is a position to answer the twelve questions with prowess.
Although later he explains to the lawyer how daily life experiences played a role in helping him answer the questions. It is not easy to belief that Ram is uneducated and yet he can answer the questions and outdo educated people in the concert. The author reflects Ram’s history which is so amazing. It began when Ram was found in a clothes donation box rolled in the clothes and he was a small baby. The clothes were in the Delhi church (Dammer and Albanese 90). He was adapted then and orphaned until he was a grown up.
He was later employed by a Bollywood star and later he also worked as tour guide at the Taj Mahal. These episodes seem to be half true to be believed as they often happen in real life situation. This makes the story interesting and makes it seem more real than creative. The setting as seen earlier is also depicting real life scenes that people know and thus makes the work of Vikas Swarup seem more real (Connerney 78).
Plot twists and coincidences
The plot of the story is twisted as Ram was a young child and his future life and how he misses education. Ram recounts his entire prior story before going next to another episode.
Also the bad encounters are brought after the good episodes that seem to brighten Ram’s life. For instance, when he is raised up by the priest, he hopes that the priest will help him to get a job. The priest later is murdered and Ram hopes are to avail. When Ram was found rolled in donated clothes in the church, this was a coincidence because maybe the clothes would have been taken to other destinations.
Later it is a coincidence that Ram Mohammad Thomas is a position to answer questions just because he had experienced a life that would make him knowledgeable enough. It is a big coincidence that all the twelve questions in the concert are known by Ram who missed out on formal education. These coincidences and the plot twists on Ram’s life make the story to be perceived as more real rather than creative (Singh 67).
Theme of good versus evil
Whenever Ram opts to meet a better life a catastrophe strikes contrary to his expectations. Ram hopes that he will be helped by the priest who raised him as a young child. The pastor was too good for Ram and he views him as his savior. The worst happens when the priest is murdered by a person who was hired to do so.
This makes Ram’s future doomed and he loses focus. Later when he is working as a waiter, he participates in the concert and answers the twelve questions (Smith 137). He is very happy that he has won large sums of money but to his worry, he is arrested and accused of cheating as the police even accept that such a young and uneducated teenager could not answer the questions (Bruyn, Allardice and Shonar 54).
This good scenes and evil scenes as they are brought out in the novel make it seem more realistic. Some people are good like the priest who adopted Ram and catered for his needs until he was a grown up. The police and the concert organizers are bad people as they deny Ram his right and even cause accusations against him. The person who murdered the priest is also an evil person. The use of good versus evil people in the story also makes it seem more real than imaginary (Daniel 98).
(II) Modern day life in India
Urban myths
Urban myths are part of the devices the author uses. Ram is brought up in a slum and maybe the biggest one in the Asian continent. Clothes are donated to the people in the slum and as they are been dispersed, they find Ram, a small baby enrolled in them. He is then adopted and he grows up under care of the priest who is later murdered by a person who had been paid to do so. Later life gives Ram experiences that make him answer the twelve questions in the concert.
In the modern India, most of the episode in the novel are real as in urban life and more so in the slums. It is believed that in slums cases of murder and also uneducated but experienced teenagers are truly there. Just like in the story, the episodes depict what is really happening in urban centers in India. This makes readers of the story to perceive it as real (Connerney 124).
Narrative style
The author uses first person narrative style to connect to Ram. Ram Mohammad Thomas tells his story in a chronological order from his adoption. Before going to the next episode, Ram recounts his prior episodes to show how the events and his adventures have been coming out. He narrates his story with good episodes coming first and then as time goes by a catastrophe strikes.
This is done orderly for instance, where he answers the twelve questions in the concert and then he feels great having won a lot of money. This is a very good moment for Ram. All of a sudden, Ram is arrested by the police and taken to a jail cell and accused of cheating in the concert. The episodes are narrated in a way that is believable. This makes the adventures of Ram Mohammad Thomas to seem real (Collins 34).
Conclusion
The novel “Slumdog Millionaire” by Vikas Swarup is seen to be more real than imaginative. This is because of the different styles and ways that have been used in the novel. The story is set in Mumbai in India a place that is not imaginative. The tales are half true and this makes it seem real.
Also the author uses first person narrative style where the voice of the narrator is brought out. He also uses urban myths like slums that are there in the modern India. The coincidences in the episodes also make it to seem more real. The author is also using the theme of good and evil to make it realistic. The events are in a chronological order and the bad episodes come after the good episodes.
Works Cited
Bruyn, Pippa, Allardice, David and Joshi, Shonar. Frommer’s India: Casa nova. Mumbai: Frommer’s, 2010.Print.
Collins, Jim. Bring on the books for everybody: How literary culture became popular culture. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010.Print.
Connerney, Richard. The upside down tree: India’s changing culture. Washington: Algora Publishing, 2009.Print.
Dammer, Harry and Albanese, Jay. Comparative criminal justice systems. London: Cengage Learning, 2010.Print.
Daniel, John. Mega-schools, technology and teachers: Achieving education for all. London: Taylor & Francis, 2010.
Singh, Sarina. South India. 5 Edn. Melbourne: Lonely Planet, 2009.Print.
Smith, James. You can write a novel. New York: Writer’s Digest Books, 2010.Print
Realism refers to the truth perceived in factual happenings of life, especially the gloomy ones. The concept is interested in looking at the daily lives of individuals from both the lower and middle classes, whose character is determined by social factors. In literature, it explains life without forming ideas through the process commonly known as idealization. Although it is not confined to a particular century or certain writers, its close association with the nineteenth century literary movement places it in that historical timeline. Some of the particular individuals associated with this period of time are famous novelists from France, Balzac and Flaubert. The social plays written by Ibsen are associated with realism. Writers later argued that it was only focusing on external reality thus some of them embraced psychological realism that analyzed the intricate functioning of the mind (Realism, 2007).
Realism is a common practice among various schools of writing. Although in a strict sense it is considered a technique, it is also representative of certain subject matter, specifically the ones representing middle class life. Its rise was fueled by various factors among them the desire to study methods of science and the effects of rational philosophy. Romanticists search for the ideal by going beyond the immediate while naturalists go beyond the superficial or actual in their quest for the laws of science that influence actions. However, realists concentrate on the immediate, the particular deeds and the consequences that can be verified.
A number of critics have pointed out that realism does not clearly differentiate itself from naturalism which emerged towards the end of nineteenth century. The term has different use in American and European contexts. In the context of American literature, it covers the period when the civil war began to the time when other writers such as Rebecca Davis, Mark Twain and William Howells among others wrote fiction aimed at accurately representing the lives of Americans in different contexts. As America recollected itself following the civil war, the improved democracy and formal education, growth of urban centers and industries, population increase as a result of immigration and the increase in the wealth of middle class people gave rise to readers who were interested in the culture changes. Realism was therefore regarded as a mechanism of imagining and dealing with social change threats (Moris, 2003).
The movement covered the whole country since it was widespread although most of its critics and writers lived in England. There were different characteristics that were associated with the movement which were the ideas realists believed in. They argued that moralizing was a difficult concept to incorporate in the novel. Their morality was therefore based on a rather paradoxical concept. The ethical beliefs they subscribed to held the view that the moral behavior schemes were associated with fictional characters and their deeds. However, Howells upheld a strong moral purpose in his works. According to him, social life in his familiar world was important and full of morality. He also believed that the health of life depended on the ability to use human reason in dealing with the selfish ambitions of human beings.
Realism considers the most mundane and uninteresting events and characters with the aim of deriving meaning from them. It strives to establish the link between the extraordinary and the ordinary and the visible and invisible of the nature of human beings (Campbell, n.d).
Realism is a trend in literature and art that aims at truthful and objective reproduction of reality in its typical features. The reign of realism followed the era of Romanticism and preceded symbolism. This literary trend originated in the XIX century, and its adherents sharply opposed sophisticated forms of poetry and the use of various mystical concepts in works. The concept of realism is a term, and nothing more, and in order to understand the essence of the direction, it is necessary not only to know its definition, but also its defining features, principles, philosophy and other foundations.
Historical Context
The second half of the 19th century was marked by the American Civil War. This war became the bloodiest conflict in the history of the nation. Of all the world powers, America was the only one in the XIX century to go through such a terrible historical shock (Thomas, 2021). When the war ended, and slavery ended, the pace of social development increased enormously. Big cities were growing by leaps and bounds; with them, slums inhabited by yesterday’s slaves and immigrants who knew no more than a dozen phrases in English. Literature responded to these dramatic, exciting events sometimes with enthusiasm and more often with alertness. Many writers, filled with great hopes and faith in the historic mission of America, then experienced periods of doubt and disappointment.
One of the main problems of American philosophy was the gradual elimination of religion from public life. Now thinkers were faced with the critical question of knowing themselves and the world around them. The ideas of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had a great influence on the literary world (Thomas, 2021). Nietzsche was an atheist and believed that the norms and values that the Christian church preaches are false, because they elevate weakness and insignificance into virtue, and strength into sin, so people have become weak.
Values and Faith
The new school of American philosophers and psychologists sought to ensure that seemingly abstract arguments about materialism, idealism, determinism, and free will were established in the minds of Americans as something directly concerning them. In this way, they tried to prevent the washing away of the true human foundations of life by a massive flow of mechanical forces. In the works of the greatest realists, the American novel asserted its special theme of human resistance to the disfiguring influence of the environment (Thomas, 2021). In this sense, the choice of the main characters is extremely indicative. The essence of a realistic image of a person is the destruction of a ready-made scheme, including a moralistic one, with its simple opposition: bad — good.
To the question, “What is God?” American realists no longer answered in the context of religion. Nietzsche’s famous thesis – God is dead – became the personification of the perception of God in the 20th century (Thomas, 2021). Religion, according to Nietzsche, turned people into enslaved people. An enslaved person cannot find the foundation of his life in himself. As soon as scientific discoveries shook religion’s authority, humanity’s slavish nature was immediately revealed. That is why realists depict a person’s inner impulses and desires, thanks to which he can achieve his goal. The religious answer to the question “What does it mean to be a good person?”, is that a person must observe the postulates and not commit bad deeds regulated by religion. Now the essence of a realistic image of a person is the destruction of a ready-made scheme, including a moralistic one, with its simple opposition: bad — good. People survive only because of their inner strength, which stems from kindness, flexibility, and individuality.
The greatest writer of the early XX century Jack London reveals the theme of social inequality in his stories. They describe a new and unfamiliar world for Americans — fearless people, gold diggers of the North, the world of romance and adventure (Newlin, 2019). The reverse side of the economic prosperity of the United States is depicted on a grand scale in the novels of the outstanding American writer Theodore Dreiser. One of the best works of the writer is the novel American Tragedy. The novel reflects the American way of life, in which the poverty of workers from the outskirts stands out vividly against the affluence of the privileged class (Newlin, 2019). He portrayed the social order surrounding him with the unwavering strength and skill of a true realist. However, despite how harsh the world appeared before his eyes, the writer never lost faith in the dignity and greatness of man and his beloved country.
Genres and Styles
At the end of the XIX century, a short story occupies a prominent place in American literature. O’Henry proved himself to be a virtuoso master of the short story, a light, and cheerful novella. He longed for “simple, honest prose” and sought to free himself from certain stereotypes and “pink endings” that the press expects (Newlin, 2019). The next favorite genre among American realists is writing. This genre evokes a special feeling of the author’s deep interest in what is being described, the feeling that what is being discussed is not indifferent but exciting, vital for the creator of the work. The Russian culturologist M. Bakhtin studied speech as a realistic literature genre. Bakhtin’s examples range from informal conversations to practical issues, such as chronicles, contracts, and letters, to literary ones, with a special emphasis on the novel. The realism genre was valid only in prose, and they had lost their realism in poetry.
Authors and Proceedings
Mark Twain is one of the first realists in American history. His most realistic and significant work is the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This work is about childhood, its special world, special laws, and an exceptional understanding of life when the main thing is the desire for freedom from the rules and conventions imposed by the “adult world” (Twain, 2022). Among other things, the book about the adventures of Tom Sawyer was a parody of a very popular genre of literature about good and bad children in the USA at that time (Twain, 2022). This genre performed a purely moralizing function and unequivocally proved that virtue should be rewarded. The images of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, despite the significant are similar in the main thing: they do not fit into the framework of the image of a “good boy” in any way (Twain, 2022). However, the most important thing for the writer was that Tom, in the process of both fictional and quite real trials and adventures, acquires the ability to judge everything, if not soberly, then with compassion.
The next writer, Stephen Crane, had roots dating back to the era of the American Revolutionary War. Having published a novel about the Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage, he enjoys constant success as a champion of the common person, a realist, and a symbolist. Maggie Crane: The Girl of the Streets is one of the best, if not the earliest, realistic American novels. This is the heartbreaking story of a poor, sensitive young girl whose parents completely let her down. She wants to escape her abusive family life, so she starts living with a young man who soon leaves her (Sigar et al., 2020). When her mother rejects her, Maggie becomes a prostitute to survive, but she soon commits suicide out of desperation. Crane’s earthly subject matter and objective, scientific style, devoid of moralizing, distinguish Maggie Crane: The Girl of the Streets as a real job.
Another American writer, William Dean Howells, used the genre of realism as a patronage and illumination of the identity of the American way of life. Howells asserts the dominance of ethical values as opposed to the ideology of bourgeois success. In later works, the author tried to show that the USA is following its path of realism (Newlin, 2019). Democratic rights and freedoms are triumphant in the USA, so optimism and joy are much more appropriate. The main thing in the book is the contrast between the idle upper class and the suffering lower classes, as well as various attempts to eliminate or mitigate social injustice. The writer builds a whole system of characters — social types and carriers of different points of view, without giving final and simple answers to complex questions.
Passages
Analyzing Mark Twain’s famous work The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, one can characterize the author as a representative of American realism. Twain not only entertains the reader. There are not so many puns, comic hoaxes, or parodies in the story as in some of his early works. Even now, laughter helps the writer show different sides of American life. Twain mockingly draws churchmen and exposes the falsity of Sunday school. In St. Petersburg, he shows, there are a lot of hypocrites (Twain, 2022). The widow Douglas “prays all the time — may she be empty!” and causes Huck irritation. There is no real purity in the church, the choristers are always giggling, and no one can listen to a boring sermon (Twain, 2022). Boys exchange tickets received for memorizing verses from the Bible for fish hooks. As a result, Tom, who cannot name any of the twelve apostles, but managed to exchange the right number of tickets, is awarded the Bible for his superior knowledge of the gospel.
To conclude, America’s suddenly changed habitual life has affected all spheres of culture. American writers were now surrounded, on the one hand, by the collapse of existing religious and state foundations, coupled with the devastating civil war that had left its mark, and on the other hand, by an abundance of new scientific, technical, biological and philosophical concepts that viewed the role of man and nature in the world in a new way. The emergence of realism logically stems from the cultural upheaval of people’s consciousness. American realists sought to convey concrete authenticity in the description of the existing reality, attention to the surrounding world in all its manifestations, recognition of everyday, everyday human life worthy of artistic description, and conviction in the ability of art to know and reflect the real world.
References
Newlin, K. (2019). The Oxford handbook of American literary realism. Oxford Handbooks.
Sigar, P. Y., Rorintulus, O., & Lolowang, I. S. (2020). The influence of the environment to Maggie’s behavior in Crane’s “Maggie: a girl of the street”. Journal of English Culture, Language, Literature and Education, 8(1), 64-79.
Thomas, B. (2021). American literary realism and the failed promise of contract. University of California Press.
Twain, M. (2022). Complete works of Mark Twain. Illustrated: The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, personal recollections of Joan of Arc, The Prince and the Pauper and others. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing.
In American literature, realism is a literary technique that shows the realities in life while naturalism on the other hand attempts to apply scientific analysis and detachment in its study of human beings. In the Norton anthology of American literature, the editor discusses the role of these two literary techniques in America’s history. In the period 1865-1920 the United States experienced high industrialization rates. The innovation of the telegraph, telephone and electricity accelerated economic growth.
Furthermore the completion of the railway in 1869 enabled businessmen to come and exploit the land for gold and other minerals. There was a high inflow of workers from Europe coming to look for work. The development however brought serious consequences. With the rapid increase in population the people needed more land and territory. The ordinary people could not protect themselves from the mighty and wealthy.
The railway company stole land from the natives. It also shrewdly eliminated other competition and became a monopoly. Other industries like steel and oil were also in the hands of a few wealthy and powerful men. Working conditions and pay for workers was poor as the monopolies had all the power. The corrupt government turned a blind eye to the actions of these monopolies.
With the increase of populations in cities there arose new publishing opportunities through several newspapers. The marginalized and under-represented people had a voice now to speak out. The writers spoke out against social injustices and inequalities due to the rapid industrialization. These were writers who had the courage to speak up. The editor of the anthology stresses the importance of realism in this period since several social issues were spoken of boldly.
These were the issues of the railroad monopoly that took the land of small farmers and the corruption of government officials. Helen Hunt Jackson spoke of the US injustices against Native Americans, Charlotte Perkins Gilman spoke of wealth and human rights and Thorsten Veblen spoke of the greediness of the extremely wealthy businesses. These writers affected the sociology, philosophy, and economy of the people. There were also writers who spoke against racial injustices.
These issues were highly challenging causing the authors to turn to aesthetic realism where they used descriptive and colorful language to represent life as it was. It was known as local color writing where dialects, social relationships and the current natural environments were depicted in their novels. Mark Twain is an example of this generation of authors who showed the vernacular dialects and added humor. This caused the readers to sympathize with the characters. American naturalism came later.
It was a continuation of realism but with a detailed focus on the lower class and marginalized communities who had bleak chances of survival while realism focused on middleclass and upper class. It was more logical than realism. Naturalism was different though in a scientific and deterministic approach. This literal technique was highly influenced by Charles Darwin book, Origin of species that spoke of survival of the fittest (Baym, 2007, p 7).
These writers for example Frank Norris and Stephen Crane attempted to show life scientifically. The characters in the novels lived in an environment with chance occurrences and the strong people usually victimized the weak. The situation was very tough and the characters lacked the intellect and resources to overcome adversity. The characters had to join forces to survive against the tough environment. At the end of the day the novels still worked towards providing social solutions.
Reference List
Baym, N. (2007). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. (7th Ed, Volume C). New York, NY: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Victorian realism was a new invention for the 1800s. According to Nathalie Vanfasse, the term ‘realism’ wasn’t actually used until 1855 when George Henry Lewes employed it as a means of comparing the reliability of a particular piece of literature or other artistic endeavor to real life or to the natural state. Despite this, the pursuit of the real remained a driving force for many Victorian writers as they strove to position themselves as opposed to the excessive styles and narratives of previous forms of literature.
Oscar Wilde was no exception to the rule. In this play, humor is used as a means of highlighting the theme of deception as several of the characters pretend to be someone they aren’t and are only able to find happiness and fulfillment by being earnest, itself a play on the name.
The issue of manners becomes of chief concern as the playwrights each poke fun at the more absurd aspects of high society. The play is relatively short, dedicated to stripping the form of writing down to its barest parts and to present a true representation of how people actually thought and spoke in this time period. At the same time, the content of the play makes the same attempt at ‘being earnest’ in its story, reflecting not only the values of the Victorian society, but exposing the artificiality inherent in it. Thus, in both form and content, The Importance of Being Earnest proves itself true to the Victorian concepts of realism.
Main text
The form of the play expresses its realism in the brevity of the play and in the naturalness of the lines. Presented in three acts, the play skips along through its dialogue without any cumbersome soliloquies or lengthy set changes. Although scenes do shift from one location to another, the direction is purposely designed to allow for quick set changes and ease of use. Rather than allowing the play to get too bogged down in details, Wilde provides relatively few detailed stage directions, some of which seem fairly self-evident by the discussions taking place. An example of this type of direction occurs when Algernon and Ernest are together at the beginning of Act 1.
Algernon is telling Ernest not to eat the cucumber sandwiches and offers him bread and butter instead. Jack’s stage direction is “[Advancing to table and helping himself]”. However, others seem placed purposely to help aid in some sort of small deception, such as Algernon’s direction to “[Take plate from below]” just before offering Jack bread and butter sandwiches. This would seem to suggest that the other tray was hidden until this moment, giving the impression that the table is set only with cucumber sandwiches rather than offering more from the beginning.
Another way in which form adheres to the concept of realism is in the fast-flowing lines typically delivered with the sort of flippant disregard for formality characterized by earlier forms of literature. Rather than discussing things as if they had been agonizing over just the right words to say for days, the characters of the play interact as if they were truly to be found sitting around a parlor at tea-time. An example of this can be found in another short exchange that takes place between Algernon and Ernest in the first act.
Algernon tells his servant to bring in a cigarette case that Ernest had left the last time he visited and Ernest speaks up: “Do you mean to say you have had my cigarette case all this time? I wish to goodness you had let me know. I have been writing frantic letters to Scotland Yard about it. I was very nearly offering a large reward.” Algernon answers, “Well, I wish you would offer one. I happen to be more than usually hard up.” Jack responds, “There is no good offering a large reward now that the thing is found.” This is the type of conversation that might occur in any given day between any two people, not the stiff, formal language of, for instance, a Shakespearean production.
The content of the play also struggles against the conventions of society for a more natural expression. Both Ernest and Algernon are constrained by the rigid conventions of the Victorian upper class, but each has developed an alter ego under which they are provided more ‘breathing space.’ “You have invented a very useful younger brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like.
I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose” (Wilde, I, i) Algernon tells Ernest, known as Jack when residing in the country, during the opening scene of the play, making it obvious that each are playing a similar game of deception for a similar reason. Although this deception allows them the freedom they’ve been missing, when they each fall in love with a woman who believes them to be someone else, they find their game is not so easy to maintain.
Jack falls in love with Gwendolyn Fairfax, Algernon’s cousin, and Algernon falls in love with Cecily Cardew, Jack’s ward, but neither woman will marry their respective beaux unless their names are Earnest, highlighting the frivolity of society and its effects upon social conventions. Algernon immediately makes arrangements to be rechristened, while Jack, through an amazing coincidence, both finds his family and learns his name really is Earnest during a rare act of honesty.
As the play unfolds, the conventions of society are brought even more into question. Both Jack and Algernon fool each other in their development of their alter egos, at least for a short while, but the deception of the nurse maid who lost an infant in a bathroom is exposed as being the longest held and the most serious accusation of emptiness in social graces.
The exposure of Ms. Prism leads to the final revelation of Jack’s true identity and paves the way for his future life of truth in a severely pared down world. “Twenty-eight years ago, Prism, you left Lord Bracknell’s house, Number 104, Upper Grosvenor Street, in charge of a perambulator that contained a baby of the male sex. You never returned. … Where is that baby?” (Wilde, Act III, Scene II), Lady Bracknell demands of Ms. Prism.
Although Prism has no idea what happened to the baby she accidentally took instead of her novel, illustrating the degree of empty-headedness that has infected society, a focus upon reality for a moment reveals Jack’s true identity with very little effort expended. Another reproof is given on society in general in the fact that both Gwendolyn and Cecily insist that they will only marry a man whose name is Ernest, indicating that the name is more important that the nature and again illustrating the various ways in which formality has interfered with a perception of the truth.
Perhaps the greatest deception in the content of the play is the deception Jack Worthing pulls on himself. While Jack believes himself to be out deceiving the world, he learns in the end that he has never lied at all about who he is as he was christened both Earnest and John after his father before him and that he really does have a disreputable younger brother in the figure of Algernon: “Algy’s elder brother! Then I have a brother after all. I knew I had a brother! I always said I had a brother!” (Wilde, Act III, Scene II).
In the end, the play itself becomes its own deception. Each character represents a paradox that existed within Victorian society, developed as a result of their dissociation from the natural world and the increasingly complex rules of manners and customs that must be adhered to regardless of personal preference, practicality or common sense.
Throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, one can trace the tendency of those in high society to adopt masks or alternate personas as a means of escaping the rigid structures of their societies in both form and content. The main focus of the play remains keyed into the idea of removing the masks of genteel society to get at the true nature of the individual. This is demonstrated within the content of the play through the revelation that everyone had been telling some form of the truth despite their efforts to hide it. In addition, the play, through the various twists and turns it introduces, ends up demonstrating in its form the very things discussed in the content.
Conclusion
The Importance of Being Earnest ends up being earnestly concerned with the frivolity of manners and lack of substance in human relationships while remaining truly entertaining, light-hearted and brief and still conveying a deeper meaning and ‘importance,’ thus delivering on the promise made in the title. While The Importance of Being Earnest exposes the values of manners and behaving in socially acceptable ways if one wishes to be included, it also illustrates the constraints these constructs place on the individual to hide their uniqueness behind a mask of a different shape or form.
Works Cited
Vanfasse, Nathalie. “Grotesque but not Impossible’: Dickens’s Novels and Mid-Victorian Realism.” EREA. Vol. 2, N. 1, 2004.
Wilde, O. “The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”. Masterplots. Ed. S. Bromige. Salem Press, Inc., 1996.
William Dean Howell put forward the idea of realism in the 18th century. He argued that most businesses at the time were collapsing because the traders lacked morals (Dooley 75). Most of the traders were vulgar or had seen themselves as being in a different class above those who bought from them. He emphasized that the value of mankind was in the manner in which people treated one another with moral justice.
The championing of this idea was mainly done in literary presentations. Instead of focusing on the illusions of romance and eroticism, authors had to write books in which heroism in their characters resulted from moral solvency unhyped by material wealth. Here, characters had to act with real motivations in the real world rather than illusions of their personal feelings. In this essay, we shall discuss some of the main characters in several books and see if they adhered to Howell’s idea of realism.
Realism in the in Cadian Ball
Kate Chopin, a native of Louisiana, wrote stories that depicted her home base. Most of her fiction showed color fiction and expressed the power of women. Gibert (69) asserts that although realism had been thought to be associated with morals, Chopin drew from her own home and wrote stories of eroticism explicitly.
The story “at the ‘Cadian Ball’ was one of such local fictions based on the Louisiana dialect. Most critics argue that the story showed more of color than realism and hence Chopin might have used racism to nurture her writing (Gibert 77). When Alcee unexpectedly falls in love with Clarisse at the end of this tale, it indicates that the real women strive to escape traditions to earn their rights. This is seen in today’s’ society. Clarisse had told Alcee on his face that she loved him. Alcee was astonished and thought the world had changed. In many societies, it is tabooed for a woman to seduce a man for love.
Cultural values limit women’s expressions and sexual needs. Women were supposed to kowtow to the roles assigned to them and as the story is, women did not achieve individual freedom (Korsgaard Para.1-4). As a motivation by the physical desires, Clarisse’s actions were a show of realism (Gibert 78). She tries not to expose them because the society would frown at it. Her feelings force her into it. When Alcee is called out by the servant, he is already having a good time with Caxta but when a different voice calls him, he gives in. He is finally taken by Clarisse. Caxta, another rival of Clarisse, notes that she has lost the battle even though she speaks to her to let the man bid her farewell.
Realism in the in the storm
As a continuation of real feelings on women’s sexuality, varying situations are shown as relative reality. Bobinot and his son Bibi are in town at the time of the storm. When his wife, Caxta (at home) is shutting her windows, Alcee arrives to seek shelter. They rekindle their feelings amid the storm which leads to sex, and then he leaves after the storm. When her family arrives, she is happy to welcome them back. The story ends with a tag, “So the storm passed and every one was happy!” (Ondix Para.2). Whereas cheating in marriages had better be unknown, the usual happiness expressed here is abnormal. Real women should have the power to resist giving into desires the way Caxta did. However, it may show the weakness on the part of Alcee, falling to a woman’s desires! This is quite true of today’s societies.
Realism in under the lion’s paw
Hamlin Garland’s short story, “Under the lion’s paw”, shows dominion of people against others (Vaz para.3). The author is well informed with the environment in the setting. It drafts the desolation and pleasure of Midwestern rural life. Realism in the story is about confronting daily stresses in life. Barren clouds are shown in the sky when the story begins then snow starts to fall and people have to shelter away from the wetness although people have to endure this to plough their farms.
Stephen Council is a “good-natured” and hard-working man, and is always helping those in need or in misery. Mrs. Council is supportive of her husband. This trait contrasts with their environment. One cold day, a man appears before him in need of a place to shelter, Council helps him out and promises to give him help till the next harvest. He even asserts that he is always disturbed with seeing problems with people (Vaz para. 4-6).And that he says is religion from which fulfillment is derived. He helps other people with similar problems. They can’t pay him back so they promise to repay that help later.
Haskins having been accommodated at Council’s for a while begins his life afresh. He enters a deal with Butler to use his land which has been fallow but Butler betrays the deal, Haskins is angered and eventually plots to stop butler from further robbery. Realism is shown in the sense that our societies are full of people with weird characters (Vaz para. 7). Even in such a crowd, honest and sympathetic people like Council and Haskins exist; their efforts are rarely appreciated
Realism in The real thing
This story by Henry James shows the conflict between pride and shame, the appearance and the reality of that appearance and the fate of victims of a society that is about appearance alone. Miss Churm belongs to the lower and she varies her appearance from a street pauper to a princes. Oronte is an Italian fit-anywhere. There is a couple who is searching for work having stayed and gotten used to life in the monarch that is now financially crippled. This monarch can not however be versatile; some members of this monarch cannot laugh at a later photography session when they have gone poor. They used to do so previously. Their pride has taken control of them and now they cannot even serve others. When Miss Churm is dressed up in a princely outfit, she becomes a respectable woman even when all her life has been spent in a lower, poorer class (Bernardo para. 4-7).
Conclusion
This shows that it is difficult for people in high social classes to face the reality when poverty suddenly comes in. Lower classes earn respect when they appear in outfits won by higher classes. But sometimes there’s lasts briefly after which they revert to normal life of poverty.
Works Cited
Bernardo, Karen. “Henry James’ ‘the Real Thing.’” 2007. Web.
Dooley, Patrick K. “Moral purpose in Howell’s realism.” St. Bonaventure University. Web.
Gibert, Teresa. “The Role of implicatures in Kate Chopin’s Louisiana Short Stories.” Journal of the Short story in English. Numero 40(Spring 2003):69-84.
Korsgaard, Christine M. “Realism and constructivism in the twentieth Century moral philosophy.” 2000. Web.
ONDIX. “The storm.” 2004. Web.
Vaz, Teresa M. “Under the Lion ‘s paw: a critical writing.” Mestrado em Estudos Seminario de Literatura. Universidade Aberta. 2009. Web.
Literature is one of the art forms invented by the humanity to reflect the phenomena of the objective reality. Drawing from this, all the ideas people have about their lives can be found in the literature. This paper will focus on two literary movements depicting the true-to-life stories of ordinary people without resorting to any symbolic pictures, etc.; these movements are realism and naturalism. Mark Twain’s “Huck Finn” will be considered as a realist piece of literature, while Jack London’s “The Law of Life” will be examined as an example of naturalism.
To begin with, realism can be defined as a literary technique directed at faithful and actual describing of the real-life events and processes in the lives of ordinary people. In the middle of the 19th century, realism was viewed as a protest against surrealism and romanticism. Naturalism became a continuation of realism by addressing the specific stories of specific people instead of generalizing reality.Accordingly, one of the features of this realism was the irony of the existing society and an attempt to change the established way of living where some people were higher in their social status than others. Naturalism, on the other hand, shows the good sides of the society it wants to change.
Mark Twain in his “Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians” demonstrates realism showing how two ordinary boys, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer manifested their protest against the society trying to become closer to the nature that welcomed them: “The marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to work unfolded itself to the musing boy” (Twain, 2002, p. 71). One of the ways to break the rules the boys hated was becoming Indians and integrating into the nature: “No, better still, he would join the Indians and hunt buffaloes, and go on the war-path in the mountain ranges and the trackless great plains of the Far West” (Twain, p. 45).
As contrasted to Twain’s work, “The Law of Life” by London is a depiction of positive experiences of ordinary people living in close connection with nature. There is no manifestation of protest in this work, vice versa London shows that understanding the laws of life and nature makes it easier for ordinary people to go their life-path and end it timely: “He did not complain. It was the way of life, and it was just. He had been born close to the earth, close to the earth had he lived, and the law thereof was not new to him” (London, 1994, p. 28). Moreover, London’s work is more philosophical than the one by Twain, as the author thinks over the solutions to social issues rather than treating them with irony: “Nature did not care. To life she set one task, gave one law. To perpetuate was the task of life, its law was death” (London, 1994, p. 29).
To conclude, realism and naturalism are the two literary movements that reflect the same idea of bringing the ordinary people to the spotlight of literature, although by different means. Mark Twain and Jack London are the brightest representatives of these literary movements, and their works prove this fact by displaying the features of realism and naturalism. Although Mark Twain is famous for his realist humor, and Jack London attracts readers’ attention by his naturalist philosophy of life, the joint aim they pursue is explaining to the society the right way according to which it should develop.
Works Cite
London, Jack. The Portable Jack London (Earle Labor, Ed.). Penguin, 1994, pp. 26 – 32.
Twain, Mark. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians And Other Unfinished Stories. University of California Press, 2002.