Richard Cory, a seemingly happy man, bathed himself in his riches, as well as his personality. The man was admirable: the townspeople saw him as almost a royal figure. And yet, this story does not shy away from the brutal reality of mental struggle. Richard Cory, on an unsuspecting summer day, broke the silence of the calm by putting “a bullet through his head” (Robinson 16). This example very effectively paints the picture of the realism movement. Following the Civil War in America (1861-1865), authors created a literature style, known as the realism movement, taking a new writing method to the public. This new approach involves real people, real settings, and real conflicts. Along with this, the movement further developed its points and stories …show more content…
Three influential works throughout this period include Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, “A Wagner Matinee” by Willa Cather, and “The Outcasts of Poker Flats” by Bret Harte. These works fall into the influential category for the time due to their ability to utilize segments of naturalism such as environmental conflicts, physical limitations, economic conflicts, gender conflicts, and social conflicts. This makes the works influential because they represent the integral foundation for the movement and the issues it addresses by utilizing naturalistic conflicts. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is a novel written to tell the story of a man named Ethan Frome. The story begins well after the main story takes place, as a narrator arrives in a town called Starkfield where he spots a man of fifty-two years in age, who appears much older. The man had several physical deformities and, from information gathered from people in the community, was a tremendously troubled man. The narrator interacts with Ethan by having Ethan taxi to and fro the train