American tragedies of dehumanization A reevaluation of the social protest novel

This thesis attempts to counter some of the major criticisms of novels from the first half of the 20th Century which are written in the tradition of American Literary Naturalism. Focusing on Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy and Richard Wright's Native Son , I address the form and structure of these novels, including their use of language, characters, and perspective, and then move on to discuss some of the philosophical implications of these novels and their potential to motivate reform. Finally, I discuss the legacy of social protest novels by examining John Steinbeck's East of Eden.