Settlers of the Marsh-Realist not naturalist Novel
...nd then to the city where he makes another choice and AThus Frustrated in his love for Ellen, Niels turns almost inevitably to the other eligible woman in the district who has the power to stir his senses@ (Pacy 41). Niels is not bound to marry Clara he simply chooses to attempt to fulfil his dream with her and he was manipulated by her. The choice becomes the consequences and the consequences becomes our life=s outcome. But it begins with the choice that is manipulated as a good realist writer would choose to do. In Settlers of the Marsh the environment plays a major factor in the Novel as it did on the Canadian Prairies in the 1900's. The Novel begins with Niels and Nelson walking in a Prairie snowstorm. Grove does not describe these men as victims of this storm but as strong humans who are able to withstand and choose their fate. AIt did not occur to Niels to utter or even harbour apprehension. His powerful companion knew the road; where he went, Niels could go.@ (Grove 8) The men are faced with the choice to turn back or to carry on and they choose to carry on and are victors not victims of the storm. Grove uses much psychology in Settlers of the Marsh and supporters of naturalism have stated that his characters are influenced by who they are. AWe are what we are, and reason as we may we can be essentially no other@ (Pacey 44) AMrs Vogal of Settles of the Marsh... cannot act in any other way than according to the laws of their own natures. These laws, while including psychologically determined forces, are also linked to man=s physical existence...@ (Bader 224) While it is true that Groves characters are influenced by their psychological factors they continue to make choices in their life. Mrs Vogal chooses to marry Niels and in the beginning she chooses to do the work of the farm @Then I came out here. I did what could not be left undone. It was slavery; it was a horror. To wash dishes, to sweep house. . . to do anything on time, regularly, as a routine, day after day: all that is a horror to me. But I did it. I was in love with you , continued in love with what I thought you were. I bore the rest. I still admired your simplicity, your energy, your power and steadiness in work..@ (Grove 185) She is able to do the work because she demonstrates it to Niels in the beginning of their married life. She chooses not to continue and to return as much as possible to her former life and habits which on a prairie farm are unrealistic. Grove skilfully executes the consequence of this unreality. Her choice to not participate in the up-keep of the house, the farmyard or Niels result in her death at the hands of Niels. She chooses not to participate in the reality of her life, and therefore she dies. The characters are manipulated and the resulting drama is classic of a realist writer. Sutherland=s second point is; AWhile both realist and naturalists deal with the actual, the surface details of life, the naturalist does not do so as an end in itself but in order to seek and underlying and universal law or truth@ (6) In Settlers of the Marsh Niels never really responds to the depth of life. His beloved Ellen pours out her heart to him and seeks comfort, understanding and acceptance and he chooses to walk away and return to work in the field. The work that was so important to survival on the prairie farm is Niels= sole concern. Niels= does not understand the deep hurt and pain that Ellen feels. As a character Niels= is representative of some men on the prairie farm. They have little education and know only the survival skills they need to ensure a successful farm. It is easy as a reader to look at the novel and see Niels= world as a whole, to analyse Niels and to be critical of his actions. But from his point of view all he knows is that Ellen will not take him as a husband and that this has devastated his life and therefore he returns to what he knows and what he is comfortable with. In Niels world there is no psyco-analysis of his life. He does not look for deeper meaning in the success and the dream he thought he would have with Ellen. He is a simple man with simple goals; farm, house, wife, kids. That is all he knows and without Ellen there is no life for him. Sutherland=s third point of Naturalism is based on the selection of commonplace vs the representative of typical. He argues that; A..the novels of the soil are by definition representative of certain type..@ (Sutherland 8) It can be counter-argued that Settlers of the Marsh is set in a common place, a farm on the Prairies in 1900 was the backbone of the settlement of the country. Settled and Farmed mostly by immigrant from Europe. The novel has a common setting; hired hands, the farm yard, all real and common to the Canadian Prairie. Suggesting that it is more simple continues the argument that Grove is a realist because he choose a place so well known to himself and the Canadian public. Grove=s chooses to use prostitution, the oldest form of woman=s work, and common on the prairie at that time, as a major player in the Novel. In Wells= Letters From a Young Emigrant AEvery girl is pounced on directly she puts her face inside the settlement@ (100) it is clear that Grove is using and manipulating his characters to do the most common of acts as was a frequent routine of prairie farmers. Sutherland concedes this point when he quotes Grove in his article. AThe exceptional, the unusual thing in character or incident has no place in either [short story or novel] except in so far as it may be exceptional or unusual merely in degree, being the quintessence of the typical.@ (It Needs, pp.120-21) (Sutherland 8). Gove called himself a realist and therefore does not use unusual characters or things. He uses a young emigrant, a farm, a hired hand, an innocent girl and a prostitute to create his story. Sutherland=s fourth point is that reali...