FRANK MORRIS

Страница 2

Norris sympathizes with the farmers. Everything he hated in capital­ist America is concentrated in the land speculator Behrman. He is the great boss, the unscrupulous dealer and money-lender. He is victorious, while the farmers whose sweat and blood went into the land lose the fight. They all meet with a tragic end.

Norris, the realist, does not make Behrman die in the fight with the farmers, because he knows that there surely will be another Behrman of the same kind, should this one be done away with. Norris sees the wheat as the symbol of a mightier power than that of the masters of the monopolies — the power of the toiling masses; therefore, at the end of the novel, Norris has Behrman suffocated to death under the grain while it is being loaded into the hold of the ship.

Questions and Tasks

1. How did the sociological novel develop in American literature? I3escribe the new character that appeared in literature at the time.

2. What was the neo-romantic trend? Why was it easy for writers of this trend to publish their novels?

3. Who were the European novelists whose works appeared in the Eng­lish translation in America towards the end of the century? How did they influence American writers?

4. In what way did the French method of writing influence the American writers, and why was the influence of the Russian writers greater?

5. Who were the progressive American writers of the nineties?

6. Describe Crane's best work. How did it differ from the conventional war books?

7. How did Norris and Crane regard imperialism when they saw the Spanish-American War in Cuba?

8. What were Norris's views on literature and style as explained by him in his article "The Responsibilities of the Novelist"?

9. Why is Norris characterized as a sociological novelist?