A term reserved for a literary movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In its simplest sense naturalism is the application of principles of scientific determinism to literature. The naturalistic view of human beings is that of animals in the natural world, responding to environmental forces and internal stresses and drives, none of which they can control or understand.
Naturalistic works tend to emphasize either a biological or a socioeconomic determinism.
Rather, things happen to people, who are at the mercy of a variety of external and internal forces as if they were marionettes whose movements are entirely determined by forces beyond their control. Answer the following questions in your journal. Be prepared to use your notes or responses to lead a discussion of Crane and London. Stephen Crane and Jack London are considered naturalist authors. In actuality, Crane, the captain of the Commodore , and the two crew members spent nearly thirty hours in the open boat.