Naturalism- An extreme form of realism, naturalism in fiction involves the depiction of life objectively and precisely, without idealizing. However, the naturalist creates characters who are victims of environmental forces and internal drives beyond their comprehension and control. Naturalistic fiction conveys the belief that universal forces result in an indifference to human suffering.
"To Build A Fire is a great example of a naturalist work because it includes all of the criteria for a naturalist work. The main character was out in the wilderness, nature more powerful than him. His trusty dog was with him. Nature was against him. What he didn't realize was that the temperature would end his life. This is an example of nature being more powerful than man kind. The dog is another example of the authors use of naturalism. The dog had natural senses. It could tell that it was going to be too cold. He knew this because of his ancestors and his evolutionary traits. Nature made him more aware than the human. The human only possessed intelligence and not a natural sense of his environment like the dog. Another example of nature being out to get the human is when he is trying to start a fire to warm up his feet next to a tree. The main character took branches from the tree. This caused a plume of snow to gather above the human and fall on the fire. The fire went out and this is the moment when the main character actually feared for his life. Another example is this line, "'You were right, old hoss; you were right,' the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek." He regrets not listening to the wise man before heading out on the trail. At the end of the short story the dog moves on to the humans camp to the other "food-providers and fire-providers." I believe the dog represents nature in its purist form. The dog doesn't care if the human dies or not. Once his food supply dies, he moves on to the other life provider with no human feelings like remorse and sadness.
"To Build A Fire is a great example of a naturalist work because it includes all of the criteria for a naturalist work. The main character was out in the wilderness, nature more powerful than him. His trusty dog was with him. Nature was against him. What he didn't realize was that the temperature would end his life. This is an example of nature being more powerful than man kind. The dog is another example of the authors use of naturalism. The dog had natural senses. It could tell that it was going to be too cold. He knew this because of his ancestors and his evolutionary traits. Nature made him more aware than the human. The human only possessed intelligence and not a natural sense of his environment like the dog. Another example of nature being out to get the human is when he is trying to start a fire to warm up his feet next to a tree. The main character took branches from the tree. This caused a plume of snow to gather above the human and fall on the fire. The fire went out and this is the moment when the main character actually feared for his life. Another example is this line, "'You were right, old hoss; you were right,' the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek." He regrets not listening to the wise man before heading out on the trail. At the end of the short story the dog moves on to the humans camp to the other "food-providers and fire-providers." I believe the dog represents nature in its purist form. The dog doesn't care if the human dies or not. Once his food supply dies, he moves on to the other life provider with no human feelings like remorse and sadness.