On The Naturalism In John Steinbeck’s East Of Eden

According to the related theories of naturalistic literature, this thesis is designedto explore the naturalistic inclination in East of Eden by analyzing the determinantfactors for the characters’ tragic destinies and the novel’s stylistic features.The first two chapters of this thesis will make analysis of some typical charactersfrom the perspectives of hereditary determinism and environmental determinism, bothof which are the general characteristics of naturalistic novels. By analyzing thehereditary and environmental deterministic influence on the characters’ destinies,naturalism in this novel will be evidenced in a direct and conspicuous way. Chapter1finds that the heredity controls the destinies of such characters as Cathy, Charles,Caleb, and Abra through the explanation of the root causes for their evil or good.Chapter2relates the natural environment such as mountain and water to the destiniesof the two families in the novel and analyzes the influence on the characters from thetransition from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization as the socialenvironment at that time, proving that the environment has deterministic effect oncharacters’ destinies. Corresponding with the special characteristics of JohnSteinbeck’s naturalism, the latter two chapters of this thesis, from the perspectives ofcontent and writing style, probes the romantic color and optimistic characteristic aswell as their effects in this novel. The appearances of romantic and optimistic elementsare not in conflict with naturalism. Instead, as the expression of naturalism, they serveto strengthen the special treats of naturalism in this novel. Chapter3analyzes how theunrealistic romantic fantasies accelerate the tragic endings of some related characters;furthermore, it excavates the underlying causes for the author’s inevitability ofapplying romantic thoughts to his characterization, which shows the consistencybetween romantic elements and naturalism in this novel. Likewise, Chapter4analyzesthe naturalism insinuated from the optimistic thematic design and the pessimismimplied by the ending of this novel, which is always considered as the spokesman ofthe optimistic theme designed by the author; in addition, it discloses the inevitabilityof the author’s integrating pessimistic thought and optimistic tone. Therefore, fromboth the content and writing style, there is a strong sense of naturalistic inclinationunder the seemingly optimism in this novel.Through the analyses about East of Eden in the four chapters above, this thesisproves the naturalistic inclination that all the characters in the novel as well as the author are controlled by heredity and environment which they cannot get rid of anyway.Analysis of this novel from the perspective of naturalism can resolve the controversiesclaimed by many critics concerned with the inconsistencies between the thematicdesign and its presentation, the conflicts among the romantic elements, optimisticcomponents and pessimistic thoughts, etc. This novel is of strong sense of naturalisticinclination. The romantic and optimistic elements don’t conflict with naturalism. Onthe contrary, they are pervaded into each other and the naturalism is intensified byromantic and optimistic factors in this novel.