The Open Boat | Literary Precedents
Naturalism grew out of a rejection of the Victorian sense of propriety. Theodore Dreiser (Sister Carrie, 1900) and others wrote stories revealing how people really lived, spoke, and thought. This group of writers tended to believe that people are helpless in the grip of instincts and social forces. The majority of Crane's writing is naturalistic, yet "The Open Boat" moves away from pure Naturalism into psychological analysis. In "The Open Boat," Crane is confronted with real people with varying personalities confronting a larger force. They do not become slaves to instinct;...
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