What is naturalism in literature?

I took a class on realism and naturalism when I was in college. Basically, naturalism is an offshoot of realism. It took place in the late 19th century. Naturalism literature tends to be about an ordinary person and their ordinary problems. Motifs (common themes) that are often found in this type of literature are: survival, determinism, violence, pessimism, and nature being a force that affects a person’s life. Sometimes you will find the protagonist to be without a name so that the author seems detached from the story and it can be told more objectively. The protagonist is often seen trying to exercise free will, yet the text will reveal that free will is an illusion. Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage and “The Open Boat” are great examples of naturalist texts.

naturalism literature