The purpose of Naturalism as a literary movement is to bring about the accurate reproduction of a story’s characters inside the spheres of genetics, environment, fate, instinct as well as the current social context of the time period in which the author wrote the work. Within the American literary tradition, Naturalism has close connections with Realism, and it takes much of its influence from Determinism, the belief that the actions a person undertakes are motivated by both environment and heredity. In “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire,” Stephen Crane and Jack London attempt to use the actions and thoughts of their characters to render an accurate portrayal of those characters. Rather than permitting them to have completely free will in these short stories, Crane and London assert that there are uncontrollable forces in the environment of the characters at work that have a heavy influence over their thoughts and action. Indeed, in both stories, the characters have to fight against a universe that is impersonal and uncaring in order to survive. Both authors attempt to express significance in writing about the stories; it is this attempt for significance that gives the characters even more verisimilitude.
Within “The Open Boat,” Crane describes the actions and thoughts of four men who fight to live despite the brutality of sailing on the open sea. Through this story, Crane shows the conflicts that humanity has with a nature that does not care at all whether humanity survives. While modern culture teaches people that the universe is ostensibly anthropocentric, the truth is that nature does not have any emotional involvement with humanity whatsoever, and there is nothing in the physical world that indicates that nature would suffer in any way if humanity were suddenly to go into extinction. Indeed, recent news stories indicating that the animal kingdom’s population has halved in the last forty years may show that the rest of the natural world might actually benefit if the human influence on the planet were removed. During the story, as the moon sinks in the sky, and the sun announces the arrival of the new day, the men understand the full significance of their isolation in the ocean. The men begin to look toward shore in order to find safety, but their thoughts and ideas lead them into confusion and error. The correspondent appears to the reader to be curious and inquisitive, wanting to know the rationale behind the situation in which he appears to be trapped. The cook is the most optimistic, having a happy-go-lucky attitude about the situation and feeling the most certain that his life will go on after this episode. The oiler is the calmest of the four, but he is also the most skeptical when it comes to anticipating whether or not they will make it back to land safely. The captain is caught up through the entire story (as one might expect, given his responsibilities in the situation) trying to determine which plan will be the one that effectively brings his crew back to land. Over the course of the story, Crane grows the camaraderie among the four men as a powerful force against the harshly indifferent energies within the sea that surrounds the four men. Every element of the sea is portrayed as being not opposed but instead indifferent when it comes to the possibility of the men surviving. The cook says that he thinks people on shore will save them, because they will be able to perceive the peril in which the four men currently exist. The captain is a little more skeptical about this: “’Cookthere don’t seem to be any signs of life about your house of refuge.’ ‘No,’ replied the cook. ‘Funny they don’t see us!’” (Crane, course reading). Crane expresses the human tendency either to reach out with hope toward a possibility that does not yet exist, or to see such possibilities as already beyond the realm of possibility. One’s tendency to view life in one way or the other has a lot to do with one’s environment, upbringing and personality, and the difference between the two approaches is in large part determined by those influences.
Eventually, the captain realizes that rescue is unlikely, and so he decides to bring the boat as close to the shore as possible. As they near land, though, the men experience high waves that end up forcing all of them into the water. All of the men make it to shore alive except for the oiler; the implication is that fighting against the ocean ultimately has a cost. The fact that the oiler is the one who dies could be a suggestion that his skepticism makes him the least likely of the four to make it through this sort of trial. In order to fight the sea, Crane suggests, a person has to be able to risk everything and choose life over time. Crane brings this story to a close with an elegant description that matches the glory o fthe opening. Over the course of the story, the men learned the nature of the sea intimately, and the correspondent, the cook and the captain are now capable of interpreting the rhythms, noises and tendencies of the sea for others. The fact that the cook floats easily to shore is expressive of the easy optimism with which he approaches the trial at the sea.
The truth involved in this story is that when man pays attention to the signs that nature offers him, and when he pays the right amount of heed to warnings, he is as likely to overcome troubles as not. However, when one ignores those warnings, peril is likely to ensue. The harrowing act of building a fire can be one example of this idea. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” a tyro of a traveler is alone in the Yukon with just his dog as a companion, even though this is one of the most dangerous sorts of expeditions to attempt. The man is smart and strong, but nature brings him low as he tries to get to his friends. The simple fact that the man does not have any experience with traveling in temperatures below zero degrees dooms him from the start, and it is only his ability to maintain focus in situations with considerable pressure that allow him to live for the amount of time that he did. However, at the end, it is his lack of respect for the power of nature that is his undoing. London describes that the man was “keenly observant” and “noticed the changes in the creek, the curves and bends and timber-jams, and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet” (London, course reading). This is not as helpful for the man as the dog’s natural instincts are to it; while the dog will follow the man as long as he continues to survive, the dog goes off on his own to make its way through the Yukon after the man passes away: “it [turns] and [trots] up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where there were other food providers and fire providers” (London, course reading). The antagonist here is nature, similar to the situation in “The Open Boat.”
Stephen Crane and Jack London focus on characteristics that are generally connected with adventurers or heroes, involving feats of strength, acts of violence and moments of desperation that are a part of making it through difficult times. The authors both seek to create a realistic repreoduction of moments from real life while journeying into the emotions and thoughts that the characters experience in the tales. The stories have to do with the rough and raw experiences of fighting hand to hand against nature. This helps the reader understand the complexity of nature in ways that are generally not a part of discussion. The characters remain indelibly human, even though they ultimately do not survive. The simple fact that, in many ways, nature remains in control of humanity is an important theme throughout both stories. The Naturalist movement in literature is dedicated to representing realistic stories that acknowledge the dependence that people have on nature, whether they realize it or not.
Works Cited
Crane, Stephen. “The Open Boat.” Course reading.
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” Course reading.
“Naturalism in American Literature.” http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm
