The American Nightmare: Realist Literature

“Richard Corey” by Edward Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said,'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -And admirably schooled in every grace:In fine, we thought that he was everythingTo make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head.

All Heroes Fall

All Heroes Fall

What is the American Dream?

What is the American Dream?

“What is America?”

For the Puritans (17th century), America was the work of God. Americans’ job was to glorify their Creator through commitment, sacrifice, hard work, and trust.

Buzzword: FAITHFor the Age of Reason folks (18th century), America was the work of man’s ingenuity, a land that could be organized, measured, and bound. Americans’ job was to better their communities using science, math, and reason.

Buzzword: MIND/INTELLECTFor the Romantics (early 19th century), America was the work of man’s imagination, a land of wonder and prospects. Americans’ job was to celebrate themselves using the power of insight.

Buzzword: INTUITION

“What is America?” For the Realists (late 19th-early 20th century), America represented the

absence of God and the failure of man’s ingenuity and imagination; America became a land of unequal opportunities and grim realities.

Buzzword: MATTER/INSTINCT

Realist Period:Civil War

through Great Depression

The Divine Presence• Puritans: believed in a personal God with a providential plan; they

might have said, “That can be scary!”

• Age of Reason folks: believed in an impersonal God that did not intervene in human affairs; they might have said, “That can be empowering!”

• Romantics: believed in a Nature with which we commune; they might have said, “That can be scary and empowering!”

• Realists: Remember The Great Gatsby? Wilson says, “God sees everything.” His neighbor says, “That’s just an advertisement.”

What is the American Dream?

“. . . the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

-James Adams 1931

Is this really possible?

American Dream, or American Nightmare?

Since the country’s earliest colonists, Americans have believed in the “dream” of a good,

prosperous life of freedom and happiness.

But generation after generation has found this dream to be unreachable.

I. Historical ContextA. Begins in 1865 with the Civil WarB. End date subject to debate – generally

viewed as the end of the Great DepressionC. Encompasses a time of great turmoil and

change in America

Puritans1630-1740

Age of Reason1740-1810

Romanticism1810-1861

Transcendentalism1836-1850

Realism1861-1930s

Timeline of Literary Eras

(so far)

Evolution of Realist Literature:

1888:Life is Awful, But

There’s Hope

1925, 1937:Life is Awful; Then You Die

II. PrinciplesA. The American Dream is dead.

B. Life is cruel, violent, and disappointing.

C. Humanity is insignificant in the universe.

D. There is no God, or, if there is, he does not care about humanity.

E. Realism rejects Romanticism’s dream of infinite possibility.

F. Its literature aimed at representing and interpreting the actualities of life as it is (= verisimilitude).

III. Style of LiteratureA. Genre: Primarily fiction.B. Style: Use of “everyday” language (like the contractions,

coined terms, and conversational expressions in Huck Finn, the nicknames in The Great Gatsby, or the profanities in of Mice and Men).

C. Characterization/Plot: Often the protagonists fail in the pursuit of their dreams and/or are coldly killed.

D. Characterization/Setting: Man is not in communion with Nature. Nature is often presented as far-away and impersonal—and therefore merciless.

Some Realist Christmas Poetry

“Christmas Bells” by Longfellow

And in despair I bowed my head“There is no peace on earth,” I said,“For hate is strong and mocks the songOf peace on earth, good will to men.”…Then from each black, accursed mouthThe cannon thundered in the South,And with the sound the carols drownedOf peace on earth good will to men.It was as if an earthquake rentThe hearth-stones of a continent,And made forlorn, the households bornOf peace on earth, good will to men.

“Karma” by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Christmas was in the air and all was well With him, but for a few confusing flaws In divers of God's images. Because A friend of his would neither buy nor sell, Was he to answer for the axe that fell? He pondered; and the reason for it was, Partly, a slowly freezing Santa Claus Upon the corner, with his beard and bell. Acknowledging an improvident surprise, He magnified a fancy that he wished The friend whom he had wrecked were here again. Not sure of that, he found a compromise; And from the fullness of his heart he fished A dime for Jesus who had died for men.