Naturalism, a type of literary realism, communicates the idea that there are forces that work against human beings. Among them is nature, as in extreme weather, for example. Other forces that work against human beings can include discrimination, poverty, and heredity. In naturalistic literary works, the source of the conflict that the protagonist experiences is typically one of these antagonists.

In American literature, Jack London is a noted naturalist whose works often present nature as an antagonist, such as in the story "To Build a Fire," in which a man with little imagination and experience succumbs to extreme cold. In Frank Norris's novel McTeague, the social forces of poverty and lack of education plague the titular character, and the harsh environment of Death Valley eventually takes his life. Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy share the theme of provincial and impoverished people moving to cities, where through a series of events and choices they are ill-equipped to endure, they meet destruction.

Stephen Crane is another noted American naturalist writer. "The Open Boat," based on an experience Crane endured after a shipwreck, demonstrates nature's indifference to man's suffering. Maggie, a Girl of the Streets exposes the tragedy of social discrimination, poverty and alcoholism. The dysfunction of Maggie's family and the unrelenting poverty that marks their existence leads to their shared destruction in a landscape where this sort of tragedy is far from exceptional.