Saturday, March 2, 2013

My Take on Realism and Naturalism: Twain and Bierce

     As you can probably tell by now, I am a bit of a naturalist and realist myself- I can relate in a few ways to Twain and Bierce. Both stories contain a bit of nature, well Twain has quite a bit!
     I like the following passage from Huck Finn, in which Twain describes a glorious thunderstorm: "It would get so dark that it looked all blue-black outside, and lovely; and the rain would thrash along by so thick that the trees off a little ways looked dim and spider-webby: and here would come a blast of wind that would bend the trees down and turn up the pale underside of the leaves...when it was just about th bluest and blackest--fst! it was as bright as glory and you'd have a glimpse of the tree-tops a-plunging about, way off yonder in the storm..."
     I find this to be a beautiful description of a storm, because I truly love thunderstorms! I am looking quite forward to spring for the magnificent Indiana thunderstorms! Storms, to me, are both, exciting yet peaceful, and Twain gave delightful description.
     My favorite story that we have read to date is An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge. To read the story then to get to the ending was a total shock to me-I was not expecting it at all, after the description of Peyton Farquhar's journey homeward bound, to really be having his life flash before his eyes as he died was shocking. The nature descriptions weren't really there but you could catch a glimpse. I did like the description of the sand looking like jewels.
     I have written quite a bit of poetry over the last nine years and lately has more of a naturalist theme, but not all of my poetry relates to the beautiful side of nature. Some of it is a bit bizarre and some is Sylvia Plath-like. I have written many suicide and bloody death poems-many my thoughts at that time of my life. Although I love nature and all its glory, I still like my oddities too. I have learned a lot about myself through my not-so-normal thoughts and poems and through reading other's work, especially Dickinson and Plath. It's good to know that I am not the only one! That's one reason I like Bierce- I like the dark, if not gory (I didn't care for Crane's RBOC, but then again I liked the nature and the gore).
     I tend to romanticize death-no I do not want die, nor do I have a death-wish. I am just a realist! Death is a part of life and I learned that at an early age. My biological mother passed away when I was 7 weeks old, my uncle committed suicide when I was 7 years old and had seen quite a few dead people by the time I was 16. I have since lost many family and friends. Death is no stranger to me. Dying is as natural as birth-it is just moving on to something, but while I am here breathing I will keep on enjoying nature with all her splendor and gore! 
   
Here is a poem that I'd written sometime in 2004 (what a frame of mind!)

Afraid
 Heart, dark and heavy-
cold as a corpse.
So full of hate-
for the past,
for the future.
Heart so full of rage and anger,
screams so loudly
it hurts
bleeds.
Sympathy for none
yet I love so deeply…
So afraid of it
I’d rather hate.


3 comments:

  1. Judy,
    I too have a great respect for death after losing my first brother of three months. I had turned five a month after he was born. A year later a grandmother died. I believe being so young sparked a curiosity circling death. As the years have passed I have come to the conclusion that with birth also comes death. I wish that some day people would learn that the beauty of a newborn baby should carry a similar feeling of the natural loss of a loved one. Feeling pride that a person you respect and love came full circle in the process of life with their head held high. That is beautiful. Judy, if you have not already; I would highly recommend the foreign film "Life is Beautiful." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/ A great story to show the upside of the downside. Let me know if you watch it and want to blog back and forth about it.

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  2. O'Livie, you really have my curosity going! I am not a movie person, but I think I want to see this movie! I am going to try to get it in between now and the end of spring break! I have never heard of it, but I am interested in checking it out. Thank you so much for mentioning it and providing the link!

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  3. Very good post! I read both of these stories this semester as well! I actually talked about Twain's good use of imagery in one of my posts! In most of Twain's detailed imagery is of course nature! The way he described nature, whether it be the river, the woods, the trees, or whatever setting Huck and Jim happened to be at, he had a very descriptive use of words and sentences. Along with his great use of dialect, you almost feel you are there in the book right along with Jim and Huck. You get the full effect of what the exact setting looked like and how the characters sounded! With Huck Finn, I amost had a mental movie playing in my head! As I read chapter after chapter the pictures of what I imagined the story would really look like jolted through my brain! Twain is indeedd a very descriptive an interesing writer. Bierce's story had just as much imagery! I also got a picture in my mind of all the events occuring. Bierce has a good use of strong vocabulary, adjectives, and vivid imagery! Sometimes I feel that we all as readers don't take the time to really notice and appreciate the imagery in novels. These two authors are perfect authors that portray this literary technique within there work! Both are excellent stories that I would read over again!

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