Realism in Henry Jame's a Beast in the Jungle

Realism is defined as "a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is (dictionary.com)." Henry James is considered one of the most influential realism writers in American literature. Henry James' stories "A Beast in the Jungle" and "Daisy Miller: A Study" are two very different stories that use similar narrative techniques; "Daisy Miller" is more of a documentary about the struggle between European and American cultural differences, while "A Beast in the Jungle" is auto-biography, but both works display accurate examples of realism.

James' story "A Beast in the Jungle" an example of psychological realism; James uses this particular story to show readers how the human mind works, by allowing us to re-live events that happen in the life of self absorbed man named John Marcher, who lives his life fully focusing on himself and not realizing what is going on in the world around him. John Marcher is so intrigued with his position in life, that he is loses sight of the important things, such as the love he has for May Bartram. "The Beast" in the story is actually John's inability to realize that May loves him and he loves her, yet he does not realize this until after May dies of a blood disorder. Henry James does a great job illustrating how everyone tries hard to make it in life and sometimes, because of this they get so self-absorbed that they forget to live life one day at time (Kearns 767). All Marcher had to do was realize what was in front of him, which was the love of a woman and to enjoy his life, but he was so unaware and blinded, that he did not realize that he is responsible for the fate that he looked for, for so long.

Psychological realism is also seen in Marcher's conscience. Because James writes the story in third-person narrative, the reader is somewhat detached from Marcher and what he actually is going on in his mind (Kearns 772). Throughout the story, Marcher over analyzes everything and constantly second guesses situation. He reassures himself that May was of no importance at the beginning, because he could not remember her, and he tries to understand what her intentions really were. With all this contemplating about the importance of May, and him constantly being paranoid, he is lost cause, and after May's death, his mind went crazier. Joseph S. O'Leary states, "The oddness of Marcher is close to the oddness of the writer, who wears a mask on the stage of real life" (1). James idea of portraying psychological realism with Marcher can be frustrating to readers. We see this man who is odd and unaware of life itself, and we are not actually aware of what is going on in his mind, and it is weird, because neither does he. However, James still does a great showing us how his character is deals with reality, which makes story an accurate display of realism.

In the story, "Daisy Miller", James uses the narrator to display realism. It tells a story about a woman named Daisy who travels to Europe, and the narrator discusses how people see her. James chooses not to focus how what the characters are thinking, yet he focuses on the outer elements of the characters, which allows the readers to gain their own perception of the characters and gives us a since of realism. The novella is very realistic and shows how James' narrative technique is creative and influential to American literature (Wardley 348).

"Daisy Miller" can be seen as a realistic work, because James' writes about a character that is easy for readers to relate to. Similar to "A Beast in the Jungle" James uses the third-person narrative technique to allow the reader to gain their own perception of the character Daisy Miller and it draws us closer to the story. Daisy is a real everyday person. She young free spirited, naive and bold and James exemplifies a great representation of the definition of a middle class "American Girl" in the late nineteenth century through her (Wardley 234).

Daisy possessed characteristics such as being lively, chatty, and a bragger. To readers in the twenty first century, this is nothing out of the ordinary, however, during the time that James wrote this novella, Daisy's characteristics violate the social norm, so she is considered a flirt, and looked down upon. But is Daisy really a flirt? Does she do things in life that should have her demeaned? No, but in the eyes of Europeans maybe. Her being young, bold and naive is important when it comes to defining her as a realistic character. These characteristics are due to the fact that she doesn't know any better, and she will live her life doing as she pleases. For example, when Mrs. Walker disagrees with Daisy going on a walk with her Italian friend,