Sinclair's Oil! vs. There Will Be Blood: Naturalism Compared

American Literary Naturalism and Its Key Themes

Like Realism, literary Naturalism attempts an objective depiction of human beings in the context of their social and natural environment. The difference between the two is that naturalism also adopts a philosophical attitude toward mankind: humans are no more than "beasts" whose character and behavior are deeply influenced by their environment, heredity, and instincts. Thus, naturalist writers focus on the "natural" instincts of men that make them products of their environment. A human being is inevitably dependent on and bound to her or his social and natural environment. As an integral part of their extraneous context, individuals lose their individuality and become a homogenous mass.

One of the best-known naturalist writers in American literature is Frank Norris. His short story "A Deal in Wheat" is built around a single narrative thread: the price of wheat and how it can ruin or, on the contrary, save the life of Sam Lewiston and his wife Emma. The almost ridiculous importance that an economic detail like the price of wheat has in the life of an individual emphasizes the philosophical stance of the naturalist writer. The naturalists ironically suggest that human beings are not permitted to develop spiritually and are left prey to their environment, which clutches them in its grip. This is what explains the abrupt introduction of Norris's story, which presents the fall of the wheat price as a real tragedy:

"The time was late in the summer, the place a ranch in southwestern Kansas, and Lewiston and his wife were two of a vast population of farmers, wheat growers, who at that moment were passing through a crisis — a crisis that at any moment might culminate in tragedy. Wheat was down to sixty-six." (Norris)

"A Deal in Wheat" thus portrays the workings of social systems and the way they catch the individual in their cogs, relentlessly dragging him into their swirl: "But Lewiston never forgot. Dimly he began to see the significance of things. Caught once in the cogs and wheels of a great and terrible engine, he had seen — none better — its workings." (Norris) Sam Lewiston is nearly ruined to absolute poverty by the wheat dealers who dupe him, but in the end he miraculously manages to revive and save himself and his family from disaster. The schemes employed by those involved in the deal are significant because they emphasize the lengths to which businessmen go to accomplish their purpose, thus becoming almost inhuman: "Took it abroad! Say, he's just been running it around Chicago, like the supers in 'Shenandoah,' round an' round, so you'd think it was a new lot, an' selling it back to you again. 'No wonder we couldn't account for so much wheat.' 'Bought it from us at one-ten, and made us buy it back — our own wheat — at one-fifty.'" (Norris)

Naturalism in Upton Sinclair's Oil!

The same mechanisms are present in Upton Sinclair's novel Oil!. The California businessman Joe Ross is clearly a product of his environment. Like a typical naturalist character, Joe Ross is driven almost exclusively by his desire to accumulate money. He exploits the land and his workers without scruples and without seeing beyond his immediate gain. The central naturalist aspect of the novel is found in the character of Joe Ross, who gets swept away in the emerging oil business that practically changed the face of the early twentieth century. Ross's character is molded by the environment in which he lives, and it can even be said that he identifies himself with his passion for oil.

Another crucial naturalist aspect of the novel is the fact that Joe Ross is not only blinded by his unbounded desire to accumulate more and more — he actually seems to be devoid of a spiritual side. He is cruel and unfeeling, an exploiter of his workers and an uncaring father. His mind and his actions are entirely governed by his greed for more. Oil! is thus a classical rags-to-riches story, emphasizing the naturalistic aspects of American society at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Title Differences and Thematic Focus

Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! has seen a resurgence of interest ever since Paul Thomas Anderson adapted the story in his film There Will Be Blood. The two versions are interestingly different and have been the subject of much debate. The titles are significant, as they already preview the differences between the book and the movie. The book has several naturalistic aspects, but its social-realist dimension is arguably even more prominent.

Oil! spans the entire social and economic picture of the rise of the oil business in America, as well as the First World War and other major events of the twentieth century. No less important in the novel is the capturing of the emerging opposition between capitalism and communism — two political systems that are ultimately equally harmful to democracy. Moreover, the novel recounts everything through the voice of Bunny Ross, Joe Ross's son, who grows from an idealized vision of his father to a bitter acknowledgment of his failings and his unfeeling actions. In the book, the relationship between father and son encapsulates the tensions between capitalism and communism that would grip the political world throughout the twentieth century. The exclamatory title highlights the crucial role that oil and its exploitation have played in the American economy and in the development of capitalism.

Works Cited

Campbell, John. American Realism and Naturalism. Washington State University.

Sinclair, Upton. Oil! New York: Penguin, 2007.