In the short story "A Deal In Wheat" by Frank Norris, naturalism is the basis of the theme but how would you describe the means in which he...

Naturalism is a genre which highlights the power of nature
over mankind. Under no circumstances will man ever be able to win out over nature,
nature always has the upper hand.

This being said, the
Naturalistic writer takes an observational role when writing the Naturalistic text. The
author considers him/herself a scientific observer. They are simply recording events as
they happen without interference.

As for Norris' short
story "A Deal in Wheat", the most prominent illustration of how the text exemplifies the
Naturalistic genre is the wheat itself.

The price of wheat
is the overall most powerful "character" in the text. Given that wheat is a part of
nature, the power that the wheat holds over all other aspects of the text is, by far,
the most convincing example as to what makes the text Naturalistic. Regardless of what
man/woman tries to do to change things, the wheat will always be the one in
control.

As a side note, nature is typically personified in
texts which depict Naturalistic characteristics. By doing so, the author is able to more
directly assign power to the natural image depicted.