17. Critical Realism in American Literature. M. Twain, j. London, Th.Dreiser, j. Salinger.

REALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE (1860 - the first World War)

The 1860s was A watershed in American history (the Civil War of 1861 - 1865). In 1914 World War 1 began. American literature within this period is noted for its realistic character. And literature between World War 1 & World War II is mostly of modernist character.

The Civil War in the USA cardinally changed the hislory of the country, Before the war American literature was marked with optimism & idea1ism, while postwar reality with its rapid industrialization, with growing lust for money & acquisition left no more room for idealism. The writers of this period realized that their task was not to take the reader away into the past or into some remote exotic places like Melville, or Cooper, or Poe did but that they should deal with everyday realities. Unlike Romaiitic characters who were usually outcasts, the characters of realislic novels were typical people of their time & place. Like the European counterparts American writers stressed the link between Man & society that is influence of society on the formation of human character. All these writers in some way dealt with the notion of the so called American Dream (the idea of having an opportunity to go "from rags to riches" - such a "poor-boy-gets-rich-myth"), explaining it, showing its reverse side. The most prominent writers of this period are: Mark Twain (originally - Samuel Clemens) (I 835 - 1910); Jack London (1876 - 1916); Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (1871 -1945).

Mark Twain was born on the Mississippi River, state Missouri. He spent his first 40 years there. The sight of the Mississippi River inspired him to become a pilot. Later it inspired his many works. He worked as a pilot for many years, his literary pseudonym came from this experience: his name means "two fathoms deep". So he commemorated his love to the river in this way.

1) The 1^st period of his literary work (50 - 60s) was closely connected with & based on folklore popular stories, fairy tales, legends & tall tales (a tall tale is a humorous exaggerated story, common on the American frontier, often focusing on cases of superhuman powers). The most famous of his stories of the 1^st period is "The Celebrated Gumping Frog of Calabenes Country". M. Twain's greatest merit was the introduction of the life language of his countrymen into literature.

2) The 2^nd period of his work was the most productive & significant. A number of fantastic or imaginary tales were written at that time (the so called novels of the Old Times):

—"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) it is a book for & about children (!),yet it touches upon some serious matters. Its hero hates protests against hypocrisy, religious fanatism & philistinism;

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884) - it is a sequel of the book about Tom Sawyer. This book was

written 8 years later when the situation in the country & Twain's view on the world had considerably changed. This hook can be defined as a picaresque novel. And sending Huck Finn & his companion (a run away black slave Jim by name) down the Mississippi River on a raft, the author enriches the novel with numerous themes& ideas. Twain managed to depict all the versatility of American life, to touch upon very many burning issues of the day (such as child abuse, violence, of all kinds, feud between families, fraud, etc.)

The most important theme of the novel is slavery in its narrow sense (black slavery) & in its broader sense (oppression of Man by society at large). The novel can be treated as an allegory of the lost hopes & unfulfilled desires, which rendered through the image of the City of Cairo situated on the Mississippi River which Huck Finn & his friend hoped to reach & find freedom there (a kind of "promised land". Yet they failed to notice this city because of the mist & sailed past it here is the frustration;

— "T he Prince and the Pauper" (1882) - it is one of Twain's three novels dedicated to the history of Europe (here - the middle of the 16^th c.) The story deals with such historical figures as King Henry III & his son Edward, who alter his father's death became King of England but very soon died as he was a very weak boy. Twain did not show the historical process & event, and actually all his novels of this kind are of entertaining character. Behind the episode of English history lies Twain's hidden democratic idea. Through the adventures of Tom Canty - a poor hoy from the slums of London - Twain proves that the Royal power is not a gift given by the Heaven, and anyone who is endowed with wit & prudence can run a state;

-- “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" (1896)

- "A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur" (1889) for its main character the story has a young average American who after an accident finds himself in Medieval England. Here the writer laughs both at the primitivism & naivety of the old limes & at the pragmatism, common sense & businesslike qualities of his countrymen. This American is taken for a magician as he predicts the sun eclipse (what he knew from his rudimental knowledge of history). He launches soap, bicycle production, etc.

3) The 3^rd period of Twain's work (the last) was marked by his satirical attitude towards reality. In his publicist works & his numerous short stories he exposed many vices of American life, as well as political affaires & intrigues in many other parts of the world. One of the best-known works of the time are the satirical story "The Man That Corrupted Hadleydurg" (the themes here are money worship & hypocrisy), satirical pamphlels "We are Americanizing Europe", "As I Run for the Government” (a story), “The United States of Linchendom” (about racism in the USA).

Ernest Hemingway stressed the significance of Twain's "Huckleberry Finn": "All American literature had come out of the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Indeed this book influenced American literature a lot. Besides Twain's merit also lies in the fact that he considerably broadened the language of literature by bringing into it the life language - colloquial language - of common people, by making use of its various dialects.

Jack London was born in California. The circumstances of his family life did not give him a chance to get a proper education but made him try different jobs: a sailor & quite odd occupations (for example he was involved into the Gold Rush which brought him to Alaska). He was greatly influenced by thesocialist ideas & joined the American socialist party, took part in marches & demonstrations. All these experiences were reflected in his writing which was also influenced by his reading on different, sometimes contrasting authors - Spenser (a philosopher - positivist), Marx, Engels, Nietzsche, Darwin, etc.

The real fame came to London when he published his collection of stories "'The Son of The Wolf” Actually he wrote an enormous number of short stories. Their value varies - as London had decided to become a rich man one day, he was often like a literary time worker. Nevertheless many of his works are really brilliant; they are examples of real mastery & a combination of realism, romanticism & of course, naturalism. They certainly influenced the next generations of writers. Among London's best & most famous novels & most famous stories of the 1^s' period of his work are the following ones:

"A Daughter of The Snows" (1902);"The Call of the Wind" (1903) - a collection of animal short stories about a dog which becomes a wild wolf; “The White Fang” (1906) a collection of animal short stories;“Children of The Frost” (1902) - a collection of stories.

London’s first works were all based on his dramatic experience of the life in the North. In many of them the writer turns to the theme of nature, human & animal life, and very often the animal world is shown kinder & fairer than the world of people. Besides their entertaining plot the stories show the great power of psychological insight & analysis.

London’s social works are also very important & written at the beginning of the 20^th c.:

--- "The People of The Abyss" (1903) - it is a publicist work which gives a picture of the life of the working class people, proletariat, which London knew from his experience as he had spent several months in London & there he witnessed the misery & privations of the people as well as their struggle for belter wages & better conditions;

— "The Iron Heel" (1907) this novel call be considered one of the very first books which touched upon the genre of dislopia in llic 20^th c. & which raised the problem of future possibilily of fascism with its dictatorship of the Iron Heel;

—"Martin Eden" (1909) - it is an autobiographical novel which traces all the life stages & hardships that London himself had overcome; the story deals with the eternal problem of the artist & society. The novel depicts the inner stresses of the American Dream as London experienced them during his meteoric rise from obscure poverty to wealth & fame. Eden, an impoverished but intelligent & hardworking sailor & laborer, is determined to become a writer. Eventually, his writing makes him rich & well-known, but Eden realizes that the woman he loves cares only for his money &fame. His despair over her inability to love causes him to lose faith in human nature. He also suffers from class alienation, for he no longer belongs to the working class, while he rejects the materialistic values of the wealthy whom he worked so hard to join. He sails for the South Pacific & commits suicide by jumping into the sea. Actually in this novel London predicts the end of his own life. He was disillusioned & disappointed with his dreams, ambitions & may have committed suicide – he took an overdose of drugs, though no one can say for sure whether he did it deliberately or by chance.

Like many of the best novels of that time "Martin Eden" is an unsuccessful story. It looks ahead to F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" in its revelation of despair amid great wealth.

Jack London was often called a "socialist boy" by the press. But by the end of his life he got disappointed with the socialist idea & abandoned his membership in the socialist parly in 1916. London's psychological crisis was deepened by his chronic alcoholism & the shock he had experienced after the fire in his mansion house (London had put almost all his money into this house, the dream of which he had described in his novel "The Little Lady of the Big House". Thus the novels he wrote in his last years show his attempt to find some other ideals & life principles. These works concentrate mostly on family affairs and devoid of any social conflicts: "The Valley of the Moon" (1913) - a novel; "The Scarlet Plague" (1915) - a long short story;"Hearts of Three" (1920) - a novel.

Theodore Herman Dreiser was born in the state of Indiana in an immigrant family of a weaver; from his early age he knew poverty. He managed to attend Indiana University for a year but then he had to supplement this lack of education by reading. He had to do many off jobs. In 1892 he began to work as a newspaper reporter. In 1897 he abandoned journalism for literary work. He wrote a great number of publicist works throughout all his life. All his novels deal with the notion of the American Dream, which as popular through propaganda & the works of some second rate but very prolific, prosperous & quite popular writers. Dreiser showed the other side of the so called "from rags to riches" or "a-poor-boy-gels-rich" myth. At thst time there was a writer in the USA Horatio Alger (a teacher at a boys' school) who wrote 130 novels all telling of a successful career of a poor boy who gets rich, acquires wealth & position owing to his wit, or a successful marriage, or something else, Dreiser's novels showed the reverse side of this American Dream - he tried to draw the reader's attention to the fact that the very system in the USA makes a person sacrifice his humanity for the sake of achieving this Dream of Success. And this money worship is usually accompanied by moral fall & degradation (this problem was already touched upon in his first novel, mentioned below, and actually that is why the American public was not ready to recognize this book at once - the story criticized the very fundamental ideal of American life ).

Dreiser was greatly influenced by Spenser's ideas about social Darwinism & on this basis he tried to develop his own theory of individual & social determinism. Being a naturalist (remember the concept of naturalism - "human life is very much alike animal life, he survives who is the fittest"), Dreiser avoided passing a moral judgment on his protagonists. Because of his first novel was not welcome in the USA, and for a while was even banned. In this book book "Sister Carrie" (1900) - he does not censure his heroine, who in the eyes of the public is a fallen woman, who has made her career by immoral means, i.e. By exploiting men, and earned her living in this way. First this book got popularity in Great Britain & only after that became widely known in the USA.

His other famous works are the following ones: — "Jennie Gerhardt" (1927) - a story about a poor girl who preserves her moral chastity but is unhappy in her family life; a trilogies - "The Financier” (1912), “The Titan”; “The Stoic” (published in 1947, after the death of the author) – this trilogy is a thorough study of the life of a self-made man - Frank Calperwood, who succeeds in life at the expense of moral sacrifices. Much of his talent & time was spent on ephemeral values, so that he had suffered moral losses on his way to material success. It is a story of the rise of a mightiest American family. F. Cowperwood is a typical man of the American transition from capitalism to imperialism.

Dreiser's masterpiece is the novel "An American Tragedy" (1925) which like his other hooks was based on true to life stories. A case of murdering a beloved by her boyfriend was quite a common case at that time. So, Dreiser got interested in the problem. The novel consists of 3 parts:

—the 1st part - "Bildungsroman" - from the German verb "bilden" -"to bring up") which shows the life of Clyde Griffiths, that brought him to committing the crime;

— the 2nd part the crime itself - it can becalled partially a detective story;

— the 3^rd part the court trial & Clyde Griffiths' slay in the death house & his thoughts about the crime, his repentance. "An American Tragedy" can be called a psychological novel. It exposes the reasons for the protagonist's nagic fate. Dreiser tried to refrain from passing any moral judgments. He just traces the states of Clyde's moral form, shows the subjective &. Objective reasons for his criminal act. He neither condemns nor justifies Clyde. Nevertheless he manages to prove that America with its American Dream (the unlimited possibilities for a young man to succeed) may lead its citizens to commit unlawful & criminal actions.