Realism in philosophy and aesthetics

Realism

Seeing Local Color

An Exploration of Realism Through Dialogue and Description in Two Works

Connected only by telegraph wires, railroad tracks, and a sense of shared identity, America between the Civil War and the turn of the century produced some of the most diverse literature in the cannon. These local color writers used realism to paint vivid pictures of local culture in a variety of regions. In fact, as a literary movement, realism allows for the realistic portrayal of life rather than the overflow of emotions that made up romanticism. Two stunning examples of realism's ability to portray local life are the works of Mark Twain and Sarah Orne Jewett. Through an examination of dialogue and description in two of the author's works -- "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "A White Heron" -- the authors realistic depiction of life in Mississippi River area and in New England can be understood.

In Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," the author uses both realistic description and dialogue to depict life in the Mississippi River area. By writing in first person, the tone of the piece automatically introduces the reader to the dialect and style of the locality. The narrator immediately takes on the style and tone of a storyteller, casually tossing back and forth cultural phrases and mannerisms such as "good-natured" and "hereunto append the result" (Twain 1). His description of the barroom and how Simon Wheeler "never changed his voice from the gentle-flowing key to which he tuned his initial sentence" suggest the casual atmosphere and importance of story and myth along the Mississippi (Twain 3). In addition to description, Twain's realistic use of dialogue allows the reader to imagine the culture of his locality. For example, as he tells the story of Jim Smiley, Wheeler calls him "This-yer Smiley," allowing readers to both hear and feel the atmosphere of Mississippi through dialect (Twain 5).

Although Sarah Orne Jewett's New England is far from Twain's Mississippi, Jewett's use of description and dialogue allows readers to see the exotic New England nature and wildlife in addition to experiencing their social culture as vividly as Twain did along the river. Through both Sylvia's initial search for the cow and her pilgrimage to view the Heron in "A White Heron," Jewett not only describes a young girl's struggle to choose between a man with whom she is intrigued and a beautiful bird, but also the beautiful new England landscape. For instance, she describes the forest of "sturdy trees, pines oaks and maples" that clustered on the property, in addition to the old pine tree that served as a landmark and could be seen from the shore (Jewett 28). This description allows readers to realistically view the picturesque Main landscape that combines both wood and sea. But this realistic depiction of New England life does not end with a portrait of the scenery. Instead, Jewett's use of conversation between the grandmother and the guest suggest the extreme value that New England places on hospitality, as the conversation between the two characters suggests familiarity even though they are strangers.