One of the stated goals of the Naturalist movement was to present a depiction of life faithful to the empirical method. In practice, however, the works emphasize the more sordid and base elements. This study explains how Vicente Blasco Ibanez’s use of coloration is a consciously manipulated narrative technique instead of a faithful portrayal of reality. In fact, a close examination of the Valencian cycle concludes that the scientific objectivity of the Naturalist movement is tenuous, at best, and that Blasco Ibanez’s narratives include more art and artifice than have been recognized heretofore.