Realism and Naturalism

In the later half of the 19th century, writers were interested in representing life as it truly is, or as William Dean Howells stated, realism is "nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material." Beginning with the "local color" movement, writers attempted to accurately observe human behavior and experience and portray life in writing; however, local color did not satisfy many emerging writers because of the sentimentality, humor, or moralistic qualities of the local color stories. In other words, local color was not keepin' it real enough for the writers of the Realism movement. Life is not always fair, good things happen to bad people, bad things happen to good people, and not all characters and subject matter are "literary" but that does not mean the writer should neglect or avoid addressing them. Realism sought to represent these aspects of life realistically and without censure. Naturalism grew out of Realism, but naturalist writers believed realistic writers to fall short of the ultimate goal of writing; realism was little more than a call to accurate observation, and it did not penetrate the surface of life- or of human character - to see the principles operating within. Highly influenced by the scientific explorations of the time, naturalist writers approached human character and society in the same spirit of scientific investigation the chemist and physicist bring to their study of the physical world. For these writers, the laws of individual and social development are as fixed as those of science. Determinism governs everything, and free-will is an illusion. The two principle forces in this determinism are heredity and environment. Human fate is controlled by these two forces and humans must exist in a universe that is completely indifferent to struggle and attachment.