Transition Phase of the American Society in An American Tragedy

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Chapter I Naturalism and Dreiser:
Emlie Zola (1840-1902), a French literary giant is considered as the fountainhead of naturalism in the field of literature. Every literary trend has some inspirational factors or precedent circumstances resulting to its birth. Artists, who can feel the pulse of a society and its environment, react to those expressing what is genuine to them thus, giving birth to a new literary trend or stream. As such naturalism is the consequence of astounding scientific discoveries at the dawn of modernism, ushering human society to an era of modern science. Or naturalism is the shift of belief from mysticism and spiritualism to science and psychology, trying to diagnose human life and cosmic phenomena from natural laws that can be explained scientifically. In the case of American literature, Dreiser is regarded as the pioneer of naturalism. An avid seeker of ultimate knowledge, Dreiser emerged as a naturalist in his late twenties with the publication of his first novel, Sister Carrie. Brought up in a strict puritan family, Dreiser did not turn a naturalist all of sudden. "Dreiser believed in mental telepathy hypnotism, Ouija boards, psalmists, and other occultisms; old folk sayings and practices; and charms."(1) It is obvious that the puritan belief in Dreiser did not give up so easily to the promises laid down by modern science.
Unlike other American naturalists, Dreiser is regarded as a born naturalist. Stating that Dreiser had not read Zola when he wrote Sister Carrie, Malcolm Cowley says, "He had become a Naturalist almost without premeditation, as a result of everything his life had been or had lacked. Unlike Norris he couldn't choose among different theories or move from the drably pitiful to the boisterous to the sentimental." (2) Besides the lure of science, circumstances involving his own life experiences were enough to turn a puritan child like Dreiser into a bold naturalist writer. He had experienced the bitterness of

The author started his career as a school teacher, worked as a District News Coordinator for The Kathmandu Post and as Sub-Editor for The Himalayan Times, two national dailies in Nepal. He also worked as an Interpreter for the International Legal Foundation Nepal (ILF-Nepal). He has earned an M.H. in American literature and an M.A. in Global Society Studies.