Literature and Social Reality Paper

1. Running head: LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 1
Literature and Social Reality Paper
Tina Flynn-Thompson
ENG 492
Monday January 25, 2016
Julie Miller

2. LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 2
Literature and Social Reality Paper
The period in our history between 1865 and 1912, post-civil war was a time of
great expansion, development, and awakening. Industry was booming, reformation was
burgeoning, and society was being forced to reconsider its priorities and parameters. There
were all class of people, slaves, ex-slaves, (freemen), carpetbaggers, merchants, and societal
ladies and gentlemen. At the end of the civil war in 1865, to about 1910, two styles of literature
were coming to light in America: realism and naturalism. Realism in a literary sense presents
the world as it really is. Realism in literature tends to be the plain and simple account of the
subject at hand. Authors of realism are known to make their subjects everyday people, living
normal lives and dealing with the everyday challenges and hardships in their surroundings.
Naturalism is defined as: “ a mainly unorganized literary movement that sought to depict
believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism, in
which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic or even supernatural treatment” (Merriam
Webster, 2015). The key in this definition is the use of the word “depict”. While realism states
what “is”, naturalism “depicts” a subject, which is to say, it interprets a perspective of the
subject.
Analyze one or more of the social forces shaping literature in this period.
The Civil War, which began in 1861 and devastated our country for four years, was the result of
economic, political, social, and cultural divisions between the North and South. Following the
Civil War there were many changes happening throughout the country. The nation was
attempting to recover from the financial depletion the war had caused, families were mourning
the loss of loved ones, and families were trying to re-establish their homesteads. Following the
war the rich kept getting richer and the poor continued to struggle and grow poorer or deeper in
debt. The railroad was making vast expansions toward the West, this was a mixed blessing. .

3. LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 3
“The farmers needed the railroad to expand and to transport their goods, but at the same time
farmers were suffering because the railroad was claiming so much of the land they needed to
produce their crops and raise their animals” (Reesman & Krupat, 2007, pg. 3). Most of the land
that was available, was donated to the railroads to continue the expansion and continue growth
west. “ It is estimated that only 10% of the land available through the Homestead Act, (created
in 1862) was claimed by individuals or families that wanted to settle, begin farming, or expand
their current farms” (Reesman & Krupat, 2007, pg. 3). Besides the railroad running rough shot
over the lowly farmers, there were other business practices that influenced the societal divide.
Banking, (finance), steel, oil, and meat packing were all among the prosperous businesses that
created monopolies and forced the small business owners to either join the party or crumble into
obscurity. According to Reesman and Krupat (2007), the individuals who were responsible for
these business practices were: Jay Gould, Jim Hill, Leland Stanford, Cornelius Vanderbilt,
Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller.
Describe the major literary movements of the period. Retrieved from Encyclopedia
Britannica (2015)
 Realism: Late-19th-century movement based on a simplification of style and
image and an interest in poverty and everyday concerns. Notable authors:
Gustave Flaubert, William Dean Howells, Honoré de Balzac, Leo Tolstoy, Frank
Norris
 Naturalism: Also late 19th century. Proponents of this movement believe
heredity and environment control people. Notable authors: Steven Crane and
Emile Zola.
 Symbolism: Principally French movement of the fin de siècle based on the
structure of thought rather than poetic form or image; influential for English
language poets from Edgar Allan Poe to James Merrill.
 Stream of Consciousness: Early-20th-century fiction consisting of literary
representations of quotidian thought, without authorial presence. Notable
authors: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce.
 Modernism: Variegated movement of the early 20th century, encompassing
primitivism, formal innovation, or reaction to science and technology. Notable
authors: Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, H.D., James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and
Fernando Pessoa

4. LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 4
Explain how Realism and Naturalism influenced the literature of the period and how
they responded to your selected social forces.
The realistic movement of the late 19th century saw authors accurately depict life and its
problems. Realists attempted to "give a comprehensive picture of modern life" (Reesman &
Krupat, 2007) by presenting the entire picture. They did not try to give one view of life but
instead attempted to show the different classes, manners, and stratification of life in America.
Realists created this picture of America by combining a wide variety of "details derived from
observation and documentation..." (Reesman & Krupat, 2007) to approach the norm of
experience. Along with this technique, realists compared the "objective or absolute existence" in
America to that of the universal truths, or observed facts of life... In other words, realists
objectively looked at American society and pointed out the aspects that it had in common with
the general truths of existence.
According to Reesman & Krupat, “this realistic movement evolved as a result of many changes
and transitions in American culture”. In the late 1800's, the United States was experiencing
"swift growth and change" as a result of a changing economy, society, and culture because of
an influx in the number of immigrants into America. Realists such as Henry James and William
Dean Howells, two of the most prolific writers of the nineteenth-century, used typical realistic
methods to create an accurate depiction of changing American life. William Dean Howells, while
opposing idealization, made his "comic criticisms of society" (American Literature Compton's,
2013). By comparing American culture with those of other countries. In his "comic" writings,
Howells criticized American morality and ethics but still managed to accurately portray life as it
happened. He attacked and attempted to resolve the moral difficulties of society by this rapid
change. He believed that novels should "should present life as it is, not as it might be"
(American Literature Compton's, 2013). In the process of doing this, Howells demonstrated how
life shaped the characters of his novels and their own motives and inspirations. “By
concentrating on these characters' strengths as opposed to a strong plot, he thematically wrote

5. LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 5
of how life was more good than evil and, in return, wanted his literature to inspire more good”
(Reesman & Krupat, 2007). On the other hand, Henry James judged the world from a
perspective "...offered by society and history..." (American Literature Compton's, 2013) He also
separated himself from America to create an unbiased view of it as a "spectator and analyst
rather than recorder" (American Literature Compton's, 2013) of the American social structure.
He wrote from a perspective that allowed him to contrast American society with that of Europe
by contrasting the peoples' ideas. Contrasting social values and personal thoughts about
America, in America, he presented to the people the differing motivational factors that
stimulated the different social classes. “Overall, these writers managed to very formally portray
America as it was while adding their own criticisms about it” (Reesman & Krupat, 2007).

6. LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 6
References:
American Literature, Compton’s by Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2013.
Web. 26 Feb. 2013. <http://school.eb.com/comptons/article‐196280>.
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume C, 1865-1914
Nina Baym; Jeanne Campbell Reesman; Arnold Krupat
New York: W.W. Norton & Co., ©2007.
Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2015 retrieved from: http://www.merriam-
webster.com/

7. LITERATURE AND SOCIAL REALITY PAPER 7