Implementation of Critical Realism in Muriel Spark’s Novels

Abstract

This study analyzes Muriel Spark's novels from the point of view of critical realism, how physicality, narrative style, character traits relate to social injustices, and personal struggles. The main element of critical realism in Spark’s  creativity is described in the depiction of social reality, everyday life. Spark's  works often depict production, human behavior, the complexity of society's demands, burden, how female characters behave in a certain process, through which the author's relationship comes. Muriel Spark's novels such as “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, “Aiding and Abetting” and “The Comforters” are considered to be the original examples of critical realism. In “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", Spark criticizes the controlling nature of the main character, Miss Brodie, and her influence on her students, which reflects the social situations existed in society and mainly in educational institutions. “Aiding and Abetting” provides inter-textual connections, depicting a real-life crime in the context of guilt and salvation, to illustrate the psychological conflicts faced by its characters.  In the novel “The Comforters”, Spark illuminates the social movements of the stories, using a meta-fictional approach to the goal of combining reality into the author’;s imagination. This study aims to discuss the analysis of literary critics, the writer’s style of storytelling, the formation of characters, particularly women in society with many social problems. Using critical realism in Spark's works, she invites readers to think individually about the social experiences that shape life and society’s norms. By criticizing gender stereotypes in relation to the clash of female characters, she puts the themes of rebellion and struggle at the heart of the struggle for self-awareness into a wide public discussion. Thus Muriel Spark's contribution to critical realism in literature recognizes its literary importance, analyzes the social, qualitative, and qualitative effects of non-traditional storytelling techniques capable of creating complex imagery.