Analysis Of Stephen Crane s A Man Adrift On A Slim Spar

During the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, a form of thinking known as naturalism appeared. Naturalism is a subset of Realism, which is the truthful representation of material. Naturalism not only presents material truthfully, but also holds the view that events will follow the course of Nature, hence â€Å"Natural-ism†. This rising thought schema was in direct opposition to Romanticism, which was previously prevalent. Romanticism was focused upon imagination and possibility, and in romantic literature things usually ended well for the hero, while in naturalistic literature the hero, or the main character, did not always prevail. Stephen Crane is considered to be one of the leading writers of Naturalism and has many naturalistic viewpoints evident in his poetry. As a naturalist, Stephen Crane ridiculed the romantic and questioned the existence of a God. He viewed humanity as an ordinary, insignificant product of nature. Throughout various poems the idea of a cold and distant or non-existent God continually resurfaced. For example, in Crane’s poem â€Å"A Man Adrift on a Slim Spar† the line â€Å"God is cold† is repeated several times in lines 5, 15, 25, and 30. As the man is adrift at sea Crane ensures that we knew his belief of God, God is cold. Crane repeated and reiterated this over and over as if to say man is not as special as he would like to think he is. There is no Purgatory in the sky looking out for mankind, making sure he gets the best out of life. Crane took