“Seperate Ways” by Higuchi Ichiyo is a tale of abandonment. Kichizo was adopted by the factory owner and worked as an apprentice in an umbrella factory. His only friend is an older woman in her twenties named “Okyo.” Kichizo is heartbroken and distraught when Okyo tells him that she is leaving the factory and moving. Okyo is leaving to become a mistress/concubine. Kichizo attempts to dissuade her but to no avail Okyo leaves the factory.

Kichizo truly represents realism. He was dealt a Jack and then a 4 in a game of blackjack while the dealer was dealt an Ace and a Jack (he lost the hand). He decided ” I will not give up”, and made himself a life out of nothing. The beauty of Realism writing is that is shows how regular and ordinary lives are very important and interesting. Higuchi Ichiyo does a great job at showing the heavy amounts of drama that are in the protagonists life.

Realism attempts to represent things as they are. This movement began with Stendal in the mid 19th century and is still used today. Naturalism was a literary tendency used in the late 19th century until the early 20th century that used detailed realism to show that the environment and other natural forces shaped the lives of humans and how we act. Charles Darwin had the greatest influence on Naturalist writers. Realism writers depicted the characters as who they are solely based on their actions. Naturalism writers depicted the characters as who they are based on their actions and based on their natural surroundings. This is the key difference between to the two ideas. Both naturalism and realism began as pessimistic writing styles, because the time period that both of these ideas were formed was one of turmoil and bloodshed. I also noticed that God or religion is lacking in both of these beliefs. Just something I wanted to put out there. Anyone have any thoughts on why this may be true? Anyways, here is a quote I found pertaining to realism and I found it quite interesting. John C Maxwell the renowned American author once said, ” A lack of realism in the vision today, costs credibility tomorrow.”

Sources:

1) https://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/separate-ways/

2) http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/realism.html

3) http://sansguilt.hubpages.com/hub/Compare-and-Contrast-The-Similarities-and-Differences-between-Realism-and-Naturalism