Comments on: Naturalism

By: Hannah Prentice

Hannah Prentice — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:05:17 +0000

The key elements to all of these stories was the lack of control man had over nature. Most stories seem to give so much power to the characters of the story but in Naturalism, the characters didn’t have that power. Mother Nature, the Earth, the Fates, they all had the power over the characters. Utimately, these stories showed that death was inevitable and we are unable to fight it. The lack of control that the characters had over their own fate was very real and true to actual life.

By: Patrick Boustead

Patrick Boustead — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:57:30 +0000

I loved reading these stories, not because I’m morbid but because I thought it really showed nature at its fullest. As discussed in class, nature doesn’t care who you are or where you come from, it is something that is continual and everlasting. It is also something that if you don’t respect, it will come back and bite you. Kind of off the subject but it reminded me of reading the book “Into The Wild”, if you haven’t read or saw the movie, I would definitely recommend it. I think it shows these ideas very well.

By: Sam Matzke

Sam Matzke — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:51:31 +0000

I think what is compelling about these stories is the fact that it breaks down humans to the most basic facts of nature. No one can truely control anything and that everyone dies at some point. Eventually everyman must face their mortality. These stories view life in a different prespective then previous stories we have read. Man is not a being that is above everything else. Man is equal with all life and nature. We all eat, sleep, and eventually die. These are the laws of nature that cannot be denied by anyone and it scares some people that what material things they feel are important are not that important in the end.

By: Trenton Mendelson

Trenton Mendelson — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:43:54 +0000

Man vs. Nature is an age old battle. In film and television, traditionally man conquers, yet in this particular form of literature, man more often fails. This is most likely indicative of real life. For every amazing survival story, there are many more tragedies. This is unfortunate, but nature is unforgiving, powerful, and knows no compassion. When matched up against man, it is a wonder that man ever wins.

By: Katherine Wielechowski

Katherine Wielechowski — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:36:31 +0000

Naturalism… well, it’s very natural…
What I mean, is that naturalism, in the hands of a great writer like Jack London, can be an incredible story to read. In “The Law of Life” and “To Build a Fire” you actually feel like you are there, freezing to death with the characters. It is hard to not feel sorry for them because both you and they know that they are going to die, but then you can’t feel sympathy for them because the old man knows that dying is a part of life and is resigned to that face. And the miner was kind of an idiot who had it coming (I think the dog felt that way too).

By: Kevin G. Myrmoe

Kevin G. Myrmoe — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:08:09 +0000

I enjoyed London’s, “The Law of Life” and Crane’s “The Open Boat” compared to other stories and styles of writing that we have read in this class. I can somewhat relate to naturalism because of the fact that I enjoy being outside in the nature and I appreciate the enviornment. I enjoy fishing and hunting, so I respect the environment and nature. I appreciate the writings of Crane and London. In these stories, different aspects that I respect and admire can be found, such as courage, grace, generosity, and integrity. Stories like these are intriguing to read because of the successful or unsuccessful survival. If all of the stories ended up with a successful survival, they would not be as interesting. These stories are interesting to me from the beginning to the end, just waiting to find out the outcome of the situation that they were in. Many questions come to mind when reading stories like this, such as what would I do in situations like this? In some situations a person does not have control over the situation, so that they cannot control their own destiny. But this must be accepted because in not everyone can prevent certain things from happening to them.

By: Wanda Plaatje

Wanda Plaatje — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:31:33 +0000

I don’t know about the rest of the class, but I found naturalism oddly moralizing and a sadistic treat to read. Perhaps it’s because my strong earth-friendly attitude about the natural recycling that earth performs on all organisms, that I didn’t find the stories horrible sad. The question of successfulness to survive or die really isn’t a question, all things die. Much like Koskoosh’s statement in the beginning of “the Law of Life.” “All men must die. He did not complain. It was the way of life, and it was just.” Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling people to go lie down all over the world, put paper bags over their heads, and wait for the end. It’s a point that all thing must bend to the rules of nature, even the young (To Build a Fire) and the strong (The Open Boat), but not to give up on the battle until the very end. All things are bound in the fate that they must die, but nature really has no say in exactly when.

By: Ashley Schleusener

Ashley Schleusener — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:39:17 +0000

I think the Naturalism section might have been my favorite because these stories were really about man vs. nature. They really dealt with survivial in not so favorable conditions. The detail in “To build a Fire” was really in depth, and London made a story about a man freezing to death actually interesting while making us sympathize with the man. Unlike many of the stories, it takes little dialogue to sustain a good story. These stories also revolve around respect for nature because it can be the reason for our rise or demise.

By: Ashley Pearson

Ashley Pearson — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:10:52 +0000

I really am not a big fan of naturalism. I didn’t really find Crane’s story that interesting. Yeah it is pretty cool that he was from around this area but i think this story confirms peoples opinions that are not from the midwest that agriculture is really all the midwest has to offer. I do like the fact that naturalism deals with more real life situations in that bad things do happen and sometimes people just need to learn how to deal with it. I can think of a million things that would fit the naturalism category that Crane could have wrote about instead of someone “stealing” his farmland. He could have found a topic that more people could have related too and that would have made the story alot more interesting.

By: Emily Finley

Emily Finley — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:59:00 +0000

I as well found London more interesting to read than the writings of Crane. I like detail and excitement, and I felt Crane was kind of lacking in that department. It was nice to have a naturalism section, where everything isn’t just perfect in the character’s life. Not that previous characters have all had easy lives either, but I felt this was more real for some reason. I felt more for the man in “To Build a Fire” than in “The Open Boat.”