In the short story, "Karen's Christmas", Amalie Skram demonstrates several examples of literary naturalism. Although Karen and her baby had the will to live, they faced many harsh realities and eventually died of starvation. The book title, "Karen's Christmas"" seems to elude to a happy, festive holiday story. However, Skram tells the reader how the world turns down a innocent young girl and her baby. The story is an example of naturalism, portraying how society or social conditions challenge the powerless individual. .
As Karen goes through harsh conditions, nobody helps her get out of her horrible situation. In her early childhood, she was raped by a stranger. However, the rapist faced no consequences. Karen struggled to overcome emotional pain of rape as she endured a cold winter with her baby. The constable, who discovered Karen living in a shack, tries to help her by telling her, "the law will make him pay for the child"," but soon realizes that he cannot help, because Karen doesn't even know his name or where he lives. Karen was the one who being "punished" for the rape, although she is the victim. The man who raped her walked away unscathed and even had "a job in the country""(49) Karen lost her job and it was nearly impossible to find another. Why did Karen have to go through so much pain when awful things had happened to her? The world did nothing to help Karen. .
When it was built, the shack was used as a shelter for the ferrymen. Later, it was abandoned, with "no one [paying] much attention to the old shack."(46) This is similar to Karen, who was raped, or "used" by a man and then abandoned, left all by herself to survive the harsh life waiting ahead of her." When Karen and her baby freeze to death, the government "had the old ferrymen's shack torn down and carted away.""(51) This is another evidence of naturalism, as the destruction of the shack tells the reader that if he or she cannot keep up with society, the world will not wait for them to catch up.
