Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-06-16
-..i
: LITERATURE AND LIFE:'
!
A. j. n.

Frank Norris whose book "rhe Octo
pus," places him in the front rank o
novelists. appears frequently in the lit
terary departments Of our leading mag.
azines. Mr.. Norris is a good critic ant
essayist as well as novelist-everythins
he writes being instructive. In The
Worlds Work for May. he defends the
novel with purpose" his article com
batting the commonly held notion thai
the novel must not preach
He classifies fiction as follow:
/. The novel that tells something, OF
deals primarily with things" in which
| class falls the novel of adventure. such
as The Three Musketeers.
| 2. The novel that shows something
or devotes itself primarily to the minds
of human beings" under which comes
the character or psychological novel,
such as Romola.'
3. The novel that proves something,
draws conclusions from a whole con-
geries of forces. devotes itself not to
men but to man." This class includes
the purpose novel. such as Les Miser-
ables.''.
The purpose novel, MI Norris con-
cause "it includes and is forced to in
clude both the other FORMS" 1t is also
he says, the most difficult to achieve,
because liable to degenerate into mere
special pleading, thus changing the
novelist from a story-teller into a pole
mist more interested in proving his case
than in telling his story. The essayist
balances nicely those two points. He
believes the novel should preach, but
the preaching should be done only by
telling and showing things
The preaching, the moralizing, is the
result rot of direct appeal by the writ
er, but should be made to the reader by
the incidents of the story"
Mr.. Norris then considers the objec-
ton urged against the purpose novel by
the plain people who read"-that it is
usually record of suffering and trag-
edy and we see so much suffering in
the real world, that we don't want it in
novels" This objection, Mr. Norris re-
CARDS as puerile, and doubts whether
we do see so much suffering" He re-
plies that the fiction buyers are THE
well-to-do people belonging to class
whose whole SCHEME of life is to avoid
the unpleasant and from whom the
suffering and social throes that ami
hilate whole communities, are as far
removed as earthquakes and tidal
waves.
And here we take issue with our crit
ic. 1t may be true that the people who
buy novels, constitute the well to-do
classes but certainly, the bulk Of the
people who read novels, constitute The
great middle, or what Mr. Norris calls
the masses and that is precisely the
class keenly alive to all forms of social
suffering and woe.
However we may differ with the nov
clist on this point, we are one with
him in his splendid plea for the purpose
novel. 1T is the complaint of the cow
ard. this cry against the purpose novel,
because it brings tragedy and grief to
our notice. Take this element from fic-
ton, take from it the power and OPP
portunity to prove that injustice, crime
and inequality do exist, and what is
left? Just the amusing novel that en-
tertains."
"Ection may keep pace With the
Great March, but it will not be by dint
of amusing the people. The muse is a
teacher not a trickster. Her rghtful
place is with the leaders. but in the last
ANALYSIS that place is to be attained and
maintained not by cap-and- bells, but
because of a serious and sincere inter
est, such as inspires the great teachers,
the great divines, the great philoso-
pliers, a defined, well-seen, cour-
ageously sought-for purpose" And Mr.
Norris writes up to his convictions, his
novels and especially the Octopus" be-
ing problem stories pervaded with
high, moral purpose.
Josephine Dodge Daskam is new
and most promising writer in the field
of humor. A beautiful girl young
scarcely past 20-and possessing YER