Survival in Naturalism
As we've mentioned, the Naturalists were influenced by the theories of Charles Darwin. Chucky D's evolutionary theory revolved around the idea of the survival of the fittest: the strongest animals outlive the weakest animals. Sometimes they even eat 'em. Delicious.
Survival is also a big theme in the work of Naturalists. Naturalist fiction explores how people do or don't survive. It takes Darwin's idea of "survival of the fittest" and applies it to human society. Naturalists like to grapple with questions like: Who survives in society? Who fails to survive? And why?
Chew On This
The tenant farmers in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath are in a struggle for their survival. The problem is, they're too poor to survive. Have a look at these quotations from the novel.
Henry, the protagonist of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, must figure out how to survive as a soldier in the U.S. Civil War. Check out these quotations from the novel here.