When I think of Naturalism, I think first of Jack London, then of Frank Norris, Cormac McCarthy. Then, almost as afterthought (because his work somewhat evades many genre distinctions), I remember Faulkner. This is absolutely a naturalist piece.
Old Ben represents something both evasive and incomprehensible (kind of like Faulkner's work), some kind of pursuit which can't be reached. It must be related to Faulkner's lasting theme, which permeates all his work, about the rebirth of the South in response to the Civil War.
Along with this theme is the repetition of several words, such as abject: "an abjectness, a sense of his own fragility and impotence against the timeless woods." This could be the mantra for all naturalist works and is a reflection of the boy's pursuit (and all pursuits).
Caleb's
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