Stephen Crane & Naturalism Background for the Author and the Literary Philosophy of Naturalism

Biography & Major Works Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was born in Newark, New Jersey, the 14th child of a Methodist minister. Two of his brothers became newspapermen (term for it in the day) and Stephen himself got to writing stories at the age of 8. Crane attended both Lafayette College and Syracuse University to study journalism. After his parents died in 1890, he moved to New York and became a freelance reporter. It is in this capacity that he was inspired to write Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893). This novel showed Crane’s obsession for the cruel realities of life he couldn’t ignore.

Biography and Major Works Crane published Maggie on his own because the novel was considered “too cruel” by the standards of the time. This novel helped to build Crane’s reputation as a realist since “Maggie” herself was a real, rather than a romanticized, character. Crane saw this brutality as a key to realism: Maggie was a poor girl, rejected by her family, forced into prostitution, and she ends up committing suicide. Soon after, he wrote and had published The Red Badge of Courage (1894) which continued his realistic pattern as there was no romanticized view of war in this spectacularly successful novel.

Biography and Major Works After The Red Badge of Courage, Crane was set as a writer. After 1895 he focused on short stories and poems, many of which came from his continued work as a journalist. He traveled west to write newspaper articles in the same year. During this time, he developed two short stories: The Blue Hotel and The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. They both focused on the West and how it was moving from wild to civilized. Crane met Cora Taylor in 1896 and has since been considered his wife through “common law.” In the same year, Crane went to cover a rebellion in Cuba. During this trip his ship sank and he drifted with three others on a small boat.

Biography & Major Works This incident inspired Crane to write one of the most important short stories in the history of American literature: The Open Boat. This story combined his realist attitudes with the literary philosophy known as “Naturalism.” The story fictionalized his accident with three other men: a captain, a cook, and an oiler named “Billy.” Crane is surely the character called the “correspondent” on the boat.

Biography & Major Works Crane and Cora ran up some big debts in 1898 and so he continued to work as a reporter during the Spanish-American War. Crane had contracted tuberculosis around this time, yet continued to write feverishly. While on a trip in Europe to attempt to recover his health in Germany, he passed away. He was only 28 years old.

His Philosophy: Naturalism Stephen Crane held the view of Naturalism and it showed in much of his writing. Naturalism emphasizes the following: Our human world and society is as much of a jungle as anything nature ever created. In fact, the wild natural world is perfectly paralleled in modern human life. In our human world, the “strong” are still the likeliest to survive; the world, in all aspects, is for the “fittest.”

His Philosophy: Naturalism In Crane’s view, “Survival of the fittest” would go beyond the animal kingdom and just as easily be a part of the business world. “Sharks” in business or politics may be easily more successful than weaker individuals. This view is clearly tied to Charles Darwin and his Origin of Species (1859) which was beginning to have a larger and larger influence in Crane’s time. At its basis, Naturalism holds that biological urges guide man, even when it may not seem obvious. Humans are always looking out for themselves by their nature.

His Philosophy: Naturalism Since Naturalism holds that our nature is at the basis of what we do, free will would then be very questionable. Our heredity and the environment around us would be moving us much like pawns. We think we are doing what we want according to our individual will, but this is only an illusion since we are following our instincts. Stephen Crane believed that we are smart animals who are simply subject to the scientific laws of cause and effect.

His Philosophy: Naturalism As it relates to Naturalism, Stephen Crane didn’t necessarily hold an atheistic view; however, he believed that God would not intervene in our world but just stand watching us from a distance. Essentially, God does not care, according to Crane: A Man Said to the Universe A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!" “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me “A sense of obligation.” (Stephen Crane, 1899)

His Philosophy: Naturalism S0 Crane saw that Naturalism could most effectively be broken down into three areas, as it relates to humankind: Natural Environment (the physical world): The world around us and its impact on us cannot be underestimated; from the weather to the physical features, our ability to adapt to this place has a direct impact on our survival. Biological Environment (or heredity): Our bodies, its urges, our intelligence, and of course our adaptability to the physical world is a major factor. Social Environment: While not obvious, our relationships to one another can be seen at the same level as “the jungle.” Who wins, who loses? Who is most fit to survive in this jungle? Note the social “pecking order” that is present in our social world. THESE AREAS OVERLAP AND AFFECT ONE ANOTHER!

His Philosophy: Naturalism Naturalism taught Crane to be a realist, and in this realism he believed that a harsh reality is the best way to express this. In this light, Maggie can be better understood. Life is brutal. However, Crane’s Open Boat is a perfect expression of this philosophy. All three factors are present: A harsh physical world (wild ocean), social environment (four men struggling to work together to survive in a little boat), and biological environment (vastly different bodies amongst the four men, intelligences, and adaptability problems to the ocean for all of them). Crane’s influence can be further seen with Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Theodore Dreiser, and others.