Define American Realism

3-3 Final Paper Milestone Two: Define American Realism

In textbook terms, Realism is defined as “the theory or practice of fidelity in art and literature to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization,” according to the Merriman Webster dictionary. The intention of realism is to present an objective stance on life. It contrasts starkly in comparison to its predecessor, romanticism, in its addressing of life not as a fanciful or romantic existence, but rather focuses on the ordinary experience of the author, realities of life and the daily experience of the individual while also avoiding dramatic effect on darker instances. Realist works such as those of Walt Whitman and Ambrose Bierce help to exemplify the ideas set by this period, straying from romantic notions of life in favor of the ordinary and realist situations of existence.

In the words of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, literature can be described as encompassing “life, life in general, in all its complex relationships,” (Gilman 975) speaking of the extent to which realism itself stretches and the inclusivity of a variety of ideas. Literary realism, in its existence, chooses to focus on what already exists within life, rather than what could exist, and, instead of romanticizing life, addresses it as it is, giving focus to those which have often been forgotten and discounted in the past in favor of romantic ideals. Walt Whitman is one poet who acknowledges this idea, emphasizing the idea that the existence of literature should, in turn, reflect the nature of the men and women who read or write it. This is further exemplified in his line from “Son of Myself “ “You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, / You shall listen to all sides and filter them for yourself," (Whitman 24). In this declaration, Whitman places importance upon the character of the individual and identifying the importance of reality and truth in daily life. This focuses on the importance of character and individualism in realism, addressing the daily existence of man and the importance of maintaining such independence as opposed to the romantic mindset of acceptance of societal expectations.

In “The Wound Dresser”, there is no hiding the severity of war casualties even within hospitals designed to treat them. Whitman writes “Where they lie on the ground after the battle brought in, / Where their priceless blood reddens the grass, the ground,” (Whitman 77) in recollection of war time grievances that were, at the time, every day occurrences. This is made so by the fact that Whitman himself offered his services as a nurse during the civil war after various hospital visits. Such an example goes to forward the definition of realism as the objective becomes subjective as time goes on, yet remains objective to the time, such as the ordinary being war during the time of the Civil War. In Whitman’s case, realism is seen and described as the existence of the individual and the ordinary life they live, whatever ordinary might be considered for the time. Whitman ignores idealism in this moment in favor of the truth, the drama that comes from it stemming from the blatant and true reality of the provided situation. Such an expression acts as a representation of true life and the darker side of it, sharing levels of pessimism in these words with much of Ambrose Bierce’s writings.

Ambrose Bierce, in many ways, relates the dark and the pessimistic to an ordinary way of life and, like Whitman, considers the effects of the civil war and how it had become, in many ways, commonplace. More specifically, Bierce does not glorify war and battle, idealizing the hero, but shows it for what it is beyond the battle, representing the aftermath and effects on the people it surrounds. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Bierce places the focus upon a common plantation owner and his seemingly doomed life and plays a romantic tone through part of the story to display his elaborate escape from death. The plot seemed to flow in similar vein all the way until the end, where Bierce was quick to turn the tide to a sense of realism following the realization that Farquhar only dreamt of escape, but was actually, absolutely and unequivocally dead, “Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge,” (Bierce 401). The focus relays the idea of the life of a common man, Farquhar‘s actions leading up to his inevitable hanging being influenced by his regard for his own ways of life and desires to keep it as such by supporting the confederacy through the burning of a bridge, while focusing on the realities of life in dealing with the eventual consequences of his‘s actions, playing into a romantic theme before dropping it quickly for a more stout and brutal realization that, despite dreams, death was inevitable. Furthermore, it reflects the reality of war in its focus not on soldiers, but the aforementioned common civilian, a realization that they too are very far from safe in war. Realism finds itself defined in this story through Bierce’s focus on reality of situations led to by the life of common men in an ordinary setting.

In its intentions, Realism aims to capture the ordinary, the daily, the individual and the reality of life as it is, disregarding drama in favor of blunt existence and spun idealism. Walt Whitman speaks of the importance of individual thought within society, and recognizes it as the everyday man’s right, speaking of democratic realism in his ideas that all should form their own truth, but a truth none the less. He places emphasis on the reality of the daily, yet does not present it as boring as some may believe, focusing on the tragedies of the civil war which were, in his time, quite the daily given his personal experience. Ambrose Bierce utilizes pessimism to examine his thoughts, yet does not stray too far from the reality of life. He addresses the common man and the civilian as an everyday casualty of war, and subjects them to the same inescapable fates thrust upon them as that of soldiers, rendering, in a way, all men equal. Both of these authors define Realism in their own unique ways, yet attribute a great deal of similarities to the period in their focus on the reality of the everyday.

Works Cited

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The Norton Anthology of American Literature 1865-1914. Edited by Robert S. Levine. W.W. Norton and Company, 2017. pp.395-401.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “Masculine Literature.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature 1865–1914, edited by Robert S. Levine, W. W. Norton & Company, 2017, pp. 975-976.

“Realism.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/realism. Accessed 22 January 2020.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” 1885. 1881. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 1865 -1914 (9th ed.). Edited by Levine, Robert S, Michael A. Elliot, et al. New York: Norton, 2017, pp. 27.