Both naturalism and realism can be mistaken. Naturalism is an offshoot of realism. Naturalist try to portray common people and ordinary life accurately. They also try to describe the effect of natural and social forces such as instinct and environment. “A Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane exemplifies the use of naturalism because of the scenario and monologues that are used.
In the beginning of the story it is easy to tell that Fred Collins use of dialect is written differently compared to different stories. Fred Collins is one of the main characters. In the first paragraph he uses the words wisht and ain’t. This use of dialect is normal for naturalism since the writers write words as they are pronounced. Knowing that Stephen Crane wrote the words the way they are pronounced compares to how naturalist try to portray ordinary life.
Towards the middle of the story Crane is basically saying the common individual takes risks for foolish reasons. The only reason why Collins went to get water was because he was being pressured by his comrades. He really didn’t need the water. The point he was trying to make was that he was capable of getting the water himself and he wanted to prove his comrades wrong. This can be considered as naturalism because this is what common people would do. If someone were to be pressured to do something, of course they would fall into peer pressure and do what they were told because they don’t want them to think low of them. Maybe thats how Collins felt when he was getting pressured.
At the end of the story, the whole point of him getting the water so to prove to his comrades wrong. When he was on his way back he saw an officer who was injured so he offered him the bucket of water. But once he approached his comrades with the bucket of water the bucket ended up spilling because the comrades knocked it down. So this basically showed that all the hard work he put just to get the water was all for nothing. This can also be considered as naturalism because life challenges like this can happen to almost anyone. Putting your hard work into something and just getting little or nothing in return, to as if you did all that hard work for nothing, and it all just went to waste.
“A Mystery of Heroism” was an example of Naturalism because of the scenario and the monologue that was used. Each event that happened throughout this story can be compared to a real life challenge that can happen to anyone, which exemplifies naturalism. Collins putting all his hard work for nothing compares to real life by showing how sometimes people can put so much hard work and effort and just get nothing or little in return. Having the courage to try to prove someone wrong just so you won’t be judge is also something that Collin implies in this story. Overall, this story exemplified naturalism by portraying common people and ordinary life accurately.
