Jack London content introduction bob naturalism (1880s 1940s)

II.BOB Narrative Techniques and Naturalist Style
2.1 Jack London: “To Build a Fire” (1908) 
The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair was a novel that exposed the harsh 
and dangerous living and working conditions of immigrant workers in 
America. 
In this excerpt from Sinclair's 
The Jungle
, the reader is provided an 
objective and detached description of a man passionately playing the 
violin. The man playing has a lot of passion and emotion while playing, 
but how Sinclair describes the act of playing the violin is through 
scientific observation. Note how he comments on movements such as 
stamping feet and tossing of the head without providing any of the 
narrator's own opinions or thoughts on the situation. 
PessimismNaturalist 
writers 
adopted 
a 
pessimistic
 or 
fatalistic
 worldview. 
Pessimism
is a belief that only the worst possible outcome can be 
expected. 
Fatalism
is the belief that everything is predetermined and unavoidable. 
Naturalistic authors, therefore, wrote characters that have little power or 
agency over their own lives and must oftentimes face terrible challenges. 

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14 
In Thomas Hardy's 
Tess of the D'Ubervilles 
(1891), the protagonist Tess 
Durbeyfield faces many challenges that are beyond her control. Tess's 
father forces her to go to the wealthy D'Ubervilles household and 
declare kinship, because the Durbeyfields are impoverished and need 
money. She is hired by the family and is taken advantage of by the son, 
Alec. She becomes pregnant and must face the consequences. None of 
the events of the story are the consequences of Tess's actions. Rather, 
they are rather predetermined. This is what makes the story a pessimistic 
and fatalist one. 
Determinism 
Determinism is the belief that all things that happen in an individual's 
life are due to external factors. These external factors can be natural, 
hereditary, or fate. External factors can also include societal pressures 
such as poverty, wealth gaps, and poor living conditions. One of the best 
examples of determinism can be found in William Faulkner's 'A Rose 
for Emily' (1930). The 1930 short story highlights how the protagonist 
Emily's insanity stems from the oppressive and codependent relationship 
she had with her father that led to her self isolation. Therefore, Emily's 
condition was determined by external factors beyond her control.