An Analysis Of The Naturalistic Techniques In The Naked And The Dead

The Naked and the Dead displays a picture scroll of American society by means of adopting naturalistic method and taking war as metaphor. Aesthetic view of naturalism insists that literary works should portray reality truthfully and objectively, imitating scientific experiments, and that writers should learn from laboratory experimenters who put chemicals in a test tube, observe the reaction with care and report it with fidelity. Thus writers are just called "observers" or "reporters" by naturalists. As a result, it is safe to say that the major feature of naturalistic techniques is "to report persons and things in an experimental way".This thesis is written on how naturalistic techniques are employed in The Naked and the Dead. Its attention is mainly focused upon settings, characters, plot developing and narrative style. Settings are observed in geographical, social and political aspects respectively. The three combine into one vast laboratory, in which characters are either driven by desire, losing their own rationality, or restricted by environmental forces, revealing their helplessness and hopelessness. Namely, man lives in an indifferent and deterministic universe and his efforts start off seeking power over nature and man and end up victimizing others and victimized by his own aspiration. As to plot developing, truthful and objective report means stringing together the events and details, giving the plan of the work by documents. The novel depicts conflicts between two feuds. In each case a character of liberal sympathies fights for his integrity against a fascistic superior; each of the "good" characters is defeated, while each "bad" character fails in his most ambitious undertaking. As far as narrative style is concerned, the novel acts on the principle of "documentation", "scientificality" and "objectivity", leaving no vestiges of imagination or ornament. The accurate portrayal, the abundant details and the "slice-of-life" depiction make it possible for a reader to think that what has happened in the novel is the lifeexperience of human beings...