The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-01-01
THE WEATHER.
THE NOVEL WITH A PURPOSE.

M& 1A0AouAs leu : Iowa.
THE NOVEL WITT A PURPOSE.
The well-known novelist, Francis
Marion Crawford, in an interesting dis
cussion on literature and it's tendencies
In the Forum, says:
II 10 often said that the novel should in
struot as we'll as afford amusement. and the
novel with-a-purposa' 10 the realization
OF this idea. II proposes TO make itself an
s'intsllectual moral lesson" instead of an
s'intsllsctual artistic luxury" 1t consti-
tutss A violation Of the unwritten contract
tacitly sxiAtinR between writer and reader.
Aman tyrss@kSAxp1sports 10 bs q work of
hction, a romance, a >nSs-si, q story OF ad-
venture, pays his money. takes his book
homo, prepares to enjoy it at his ease. and
discovers he has paid a dollar for some
body's views on socialism, religion or the
divorce laws. The buyer is possibly . con-
seryativs person. Of lukewarm religious con-
v~ictions, whose life is made barren BY
marriage, or death. or division" and who
takes no sort OF INTEREST," she laws relating
70 divorce. in the invention Of a new re-
ligion, or the position of the labor question.
He has simply paid money, on the tacit
eontract between the furnisher and pur-
chaser, and be has been swindled. In ordi-
nary cases the purposs-novel 10 . simple
fraud, besides being q failure in nine hun
dred and ni~nety-nins cases out Of . thou
sand. It ID an ambush, a ly~ing-in-wait for
the unsuspecting public, a violation of the
social contraot-and az such ought to be
either meroilesslJ crushed or forced by law
10 bind itself in black and label itself "Pur-
pose'' in very big letters.
MI. Crawford should have made this
sharp criticism more clear by adding his
ayn definition Of a shovel With-a-Pur-
pose.' 1-.ua-aan hardly believe that he
really intended to apply this caustic OBJ
~servation to all novels written with the
purpose in view of upbuildiug the read
er's moral or mental structure. This,
we take it, is the generic definition of a
novel with a purpose and certainly no
critic, however high may be his stand
ing, should presume on his name to
give a derisive slur to literature which
Mr.. Crawford affects to despise.
The best novels ever written, the ones
that will last when Mr.. C%rawford's word
paintings are forgotten, are the ones
written because the authors had some
thing in view besides the reward of the
mighty dollar or the pleasing satisfac-
ton of returning fame. OF the latter
day English novellsts, Thackeray and
Dickens have left the most enduring
works and will any critical reader say
that in them he failed to discover les
sons in every day life? A strong, virile
style like that OF the great English sat
lrist was but the outward sign of an I'M
polling mental force and in all of his
works we seem to see this driving on a
a few lines. He sought to remove the
shams of social life, uncover human arti-
fees, make men and women honest in
their requirements and place society on
a plane of real worth. To do this he
employed the of his fancy and
the shafts of his wit. Surely there
could be no higher mission for a novel
ist and T~hackeray olung to it to the
end.
The novels OF Dickens reveal most
plainly a purpose never lost sight OF.
His pictures of life in the slums of Lon
don first brought to public view the
horrors and wiokedness Of an existence
never dreamed of by thousands. His
pathos was drawn upon to humanize
the world, and when striking at
the foibles of high life, he aimed
to better conditions. The novels
OF these men do not need the stamp
purpose" on the covers to prevent Il
fraud upon the purchaser through col
fusion between the author and pub
Usher. Assuming in a charitable way
that Mr.. Crawford's definition of a
acknowledgements" would include
only novels written to assist certain re-
forms, we might offer in refutation
the works of Charles Reade, a novelist
not possessed of Thackeray's brilllancy
OF style nor Dickens tender knowledge
of human nature, but nevertheless a
novelist of first rank in the last two de-
cades. Many Of his stories were written
with a special object in view. For in
stance, in "Pnt Yourself in His Place."
q most interesting and readable novel,
the tyranny Of labor organizations is
illustrated in striking colors. In other
novels he directs public attention to
abuses like those connected with pri-
yate insane asylums. These purposes
in no way detraot from the interest and
yet accomplished incalulable good IN
bringing about reforms.
1t is perhaps unfortunate that Ameri
can literature contains 30 little fiction OF
this class. Indeed there are only two great
novels in which sharply defined purposel
are apparent. These are Mrs. Harrie'
Beecher Stoves "Uncle Toms Cabin,
and Edward Bellamy's "Looking Back
ward" both works Of remarkable inter
est. There are, OF course, artists Xix
Howells who study to reveal phases o
humanity and uncover social shams, bu'
the vast majority of them are men,, who
like Mr.. Crawford, write for the dolla