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Realism is a literary technique that is used by writers to portray a middle-class life. As William Harmon and Hugh Holman have said, “realists center their attention to a remarkable degree on the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence.” American realists assumed that freedom of choice of the people was limited by the power of outside forces. Unlike the romanticists in those times, the realists were not looking for a made up story with a hero, they wanted something real, and relatable to the readers of that time. Also, in contrast to romantic authors and naturalists, authors of Realism viewed their characters as people, not gods, or helpless humans. Realism was the period of time that took place before the civil war and lasted to the turn of the century. In the literary technique of realism, the character is a much more important figure in the story than action or the plot. It focuses a lot on the character’s ethical issues in the story and how they deal with them. The subject matter was drawn from the author’s experience as well as that of the readers. As Patricia Penrose put it, “realism is so pervasive that it seems natural and unimportant. However, upon close examination, we realize that realism planted the seeds for many of America’s core values.” Realism is viewed as the recognition of democracy and the essential relations between people and society. Realist authors were sensible, relativistic, democratic and experimental.