Notable Naturalist Novels

Why This Matters

Naturalism isn't just another literary movement to memorize—it's a fundamental shift in how writers understood human behavior, and the AP exam will test whether you grasp that distinction. These novels emerged from a world transformed by Darwin, industrialization, and urban poverty, and they asked uncomfortable questions: Are we truly free agents, or are we shaped by forces beyond our control? You'll be expected to recognize how naturalist authors use environment, heredity, and socioeconomic conditions as deterministic forces that drive plot and character.

When you encounter these texts on the exam, you're being tested on your ability to identify literary determinism, analyze environmental influence on character, and distinguish naturalism from both romanticism and straightforward realism. The FRQ loves asking you to compare how different authors treat agency, morality, and social critique. Don't just memorize plot summaries—know what philosophical principle each novel illustrates and how its techniques reveal naturalist assumptions about human nature.

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Determinism and the Trapped Individual

Naturalist writers borrowed from scientific thinking to argue that human beings are essentially products of heredity and environment—trapped by forces they neither chose nor control. These novels feature protagonists who struggle against circumstances that ultimately prove inescapable.

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola (1867)

• Zola's experimental method—he called his approach "the experimental novel," treating characters like specimens whose behavior could be predicted by their temperaments and surroundings
• Hereditary determinism drives the plot; Thérèse's passionate nature and Laurent's nervous temperament make their crime and psychological collapse feel inevitable rather than chosen
• The Parisian setting functions as a suffocating force, with the dark passage where the Raquins live mirroring the characters' moral and emotional entrapment

McTeague by Frank Norris (1899)

• Atavistic regression—McTeague's descent into brutality reflects naturalism's interest in how primitive instincts lurk beneath civilized surfaces
• Greed as environmental poison shapes every character; the lottery winnings don't create desire but amplify destructive tendencies already present
• The Death Valley finale literalizes determinism—McTeague is handcuffed to a corpse in an inescapable landscape, a brutal metaphor for naturalist philosophy

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900)

• Amoral drift defines Carrie's rise; Dreiser refuses to punish her for choices that Victorian novels would condemn, suggesting morality is a social construct rather than universal law
• Economic determinism drives the plot more than character psychology—Carrie moves toward comfort and away from poverty with the logic of water flowing downhill
• Hurstwood's decline provides the novel's darkest naturalist statement: a man of status and capability can be systematically destroyed by circumstance

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Environment as Character

A hallmark of naturalist fiction is the treatment of setting not merely as backdrop but as an active force shaping human destiny. These authors use landscape and urban space to externalize psychological states and demonstrate environmental determinism.

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (1878)

• Egdon Heath opens the novel and dominates it—Hardy devotes an entire chapter to describing its ancient, indifferent presence before introducing any human character
• Landscape as fate operates throughout; characters who try to escape the heath (Eustacia, Wildeve) are destroyed, while those who accept it (Diggory Venn) survive
• Cosmic indifference distinguishes Hardy's naturalism—the universe isn't hostile, merely unconcerned with human suffering, a philosophical position the exam may ask you to identify

The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

• The Yukon wilderness strips away civilization's veneer, revealing that domestication is merely a temporary overlay on primal instinct
• Atavism and survival drive Buck's transformation; London presents this not as degradation but as authentic self-discovery, complicating simple moral judgments
• "The law of club and fang" becomes the novel's governing principle—a naturalist reduction of existence to power dynamics and survival imperatives

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)

• Packingtown as industrial hell—Sinclair's Chicago stockyards function as a machine that processes human beings as ruthlessly as it processes hogs
• Immigrant exploitation is shown as systematic rather than incidental; Jurgis's strength and work ethic prove useless against an economic system designed to extract and discard labor
• Reform agenda distinguishes this novel—Sinclair wanted to inspire socialist revolution, though readers focused on food safety instead ("I aimed at the public's heart and hit it in the stomach")

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War and the Destruction of Romantic Ideals

Naturalist writers were particularly interested in war as a laboratory for testing romantic notions of heroism, honor, and individual agency. These novels strip away glory to reveal chaos, fear, and the insignificance of individual will.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1869)

• Historical determinism is Tolstoy's central argument—he devotes philosophical chapters to arguing that great men don't shape history; rather, vast impersonal forces move through them
• The fog of battle appears literally and figuratively; characters at Austerlitz and Borodino cannot understand what's happening around them, undermining any notion of heroic agency
• Pierre's search for meaning structures the novel's philosophical inquiry—his journey through various ideologies reflects naturalism's interest in how environment shapes belief

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)

• Psychological impressionism—Crane renders Henry Fleming's consciousness in fragmented, sensory bursts that capture the disorientation of combat rather than its supposed glory
• Ironic heroism defines the novel's critique; Henry's "red badge" is a wound from fleeing, not fighting, yet it earns him respect—exposing heroism as performance rather than essence
• Color symbolism saturates the prose; the red sun, the "red badge," and the corpse's gray face create a palette that conveys war's reality without romantic distortion

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Social Critique and the Woman Question

Naturalist authors frequently examined how social structures—particularly those governing gender and class—function as deterministic forces constraining individual possibility. These novels expose the gap between bourgeois ideals and lived reality.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1856)

• Bovarysme—the term coined from this novel describes the dangerous gap between romantic fantasy and provincial reality that destroys Emma
• Free indirect discourse revolutionized narrative technique; Flaubert slides between Emma's consciousness and authorial irony, letting readers experience her delusions while recognizing their absurdity
• Bourgeois mediocrity is Flaubert's true target—Charles's dullness, Homais's pomposity, and Lheureux's predation represent a society that produces Emma's desperate escapism

Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871-1872)

• The "web" metaphor structures Eliot's vision of society—individual choices ripple outward, connecting characters in ways they cannot fully perceive or control
• Dorothea's thwarted ambition exemplifies how gender constraints function as environmental determinism; her intelligence and idealism find no adequate outlet in provincial England
• Scientific and political reform provides the novel's historical context—Eliot sets the novel during the 1832 Reform Bill debates, connecting personal struggles to broader social transformation

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two novels use landscape as a deterministic force but reach opposite conclusions about whether nature represents entrapment or liberation?

2. How does Dreiser's treatment of morality in Sister Carrie differ from the Victorian novel tradition, and what does this reveal about naturalist philosophy?

3. Compare the narrative techniques Flaubert uses in Madame Bovary with Crane's approach in The Red Badge of Courage—how does each author create psychological depth while maintaining critical distance?

4. If an FRQ asked you to discuss how naturalist authors critique romantic ideals, which three novels would provide the strongest contrasting examples, and why?

5. Both McTeague and Thérèse Raquin feature protagonists destroyed by passion and crime—what different aspects of naturalist determinism does each novel emphasize?