Stephen Crane's 'The Red Badge Of Courage'

The Red Badge of Courage, by Steven Crane, has been considered one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story that realistically depicts the American Civil War through the eyes of Henry Fleming, an ordinary farm boy who decides to become a soldier.

What was fresh in Cranes's approach to writing about war. Was how indepth the details were that the reader's were given. The details made it feel as if the reader was there on the battlefield.

Stephen Crane is a Naturalist. Naturalists believe an individual’s life is determined by environment, chance, and heredity. They also believe that free will is an illusion and that people should endure their suffering with quiet dignity. Lastly, Naturalists believe survival of the fittest and natural selection govern people as well as nature, and people resort to the animal during a crisis. Crane uses literary elements to create Naturalist themes in “A Mystery of Heroism” and “An Episode of War.” Although both of the stories have Naturalist themes, Crane uses different elements to create them.

Great soldiers are always portrayed with specific defining characteristics, including courage, bravery, and selflessness. In Stephen Crane's Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry, lacks these specific traits. In Henry's first battle experience, he fights alongside the other soldiers, despite being terrified. However, in his regiment's second battle, Henry flees the scene. Henry's actions are due to his lack of courage and bravery, and his selfish demeanor. He does not realize the intensity of the war until after the first battle, thus resulting in him running away afterwards.

      In The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane explores the theme of courage and heroism in depth. He develops these themes through the main character, Henry Fleming. Henry is a naïve young man faced with the harsh realities of war, in this book, some argue that Henry is transformed into a heroic "quiet manhood" while others see Henry as the same young man who ran from battle in the beginning of the book. I think Henry doesn't change, his heroic status acquired at the end of the book isn't truly him, instead he merely is motivated by fear of dying and being rejected by his fellow soldiers.

“He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member.” (Crane, Chapter 5) “The Red Badge of Courage” written by Stephen Crane is a story taking place during the Civil War. It is about a young new recruit of the Union Army named Henry Fleming. He flees from battle, but as he feels really shameful he returns to his regiment. There are many themes in the story, as Henry longs for courage and man hood, but along the way he learns self preservation.

"He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was a part -a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country -was in a crisis. He was welded into a common personality which was dominated by a single desire." (Crane ) The Red Badge of Courage is written by Stephen Crane. It takes place during the Civil War. Some readers think Henry is a Coward while other think he is a hero. Henry shows heroic traits when he ends up fighting, grabs the flag, and stays with the army.

In the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry has a conflict of individual vs. self as he struggles to mature at first when confronted with the realities of war. We see Henry be mesmerized by the glories of being a soldier but he does not truly understand what it means to be a soldier fighting in a conflict such as the Civil War. He matures and develops throughout his exposure to warfare and understands what it means to be a warrior. This is the central point in understanding why he fights with the other soldiers the first battle, yet he flees when the second battle ensues.

The author of the book “ Red Badge of Courage” Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871 and June 5 ,1900. Through his life he wrote many interesting books. In my opinion, I think that Stephen Crane wrote the book “ Red Badge of Courage” because he want to tell us about the things that happen in the Civil War,but some of the events might not be real.Unlike the other book,this book tell things that happen in the Civil War.Some other book may be like “The Great War” may be like this book, but in my opinion I think this book is more realistic than other this kind of

Henry, the main character from, "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephan Crane, showed many different emotions and reactions to battle. The essay will show how nature and human life are similar. In the same sense that the emotions that Henry portrayed fear and bravery in numerous occasions throughout the story; in the end his youthfulness got the best of him. In the first battle Henry stayed with his unit. However, in the second battle, he ran away from the battle. From these two extremely different reactions, it can be determined that Henry was going through internal battles as well as external battles.

The Red Badge of Courage is a story of humility and courage. The setting is during the Civil War with the 304th Regiment. Henry Fleming, the story’s main protagonist has many questions that need to be answered. He questions if he would run away when in the midst of a battle. Henry joined the regiment in hopes of obtaining personal glory. After false rumor after false rumor of moving towards the battle, the 304th regiment loses hope of experiencing battle. The main plot and conflict is introduced when Henry encounters his first battle: the struggle to run for his life or stay and fight until death. During his first battle, fear grips him, but he cannot flee because he is boxed in both left and right. After they push the confederate soldiers back, they are attacked soon yet again and this time Henry runs for it. When he finally stops, he tries to justify his actions by stating that the soldiers are stupid for fighting a lost battle. He comes across a group of soldiers with wounds and envies their “red badge of courage”. After hearing how generals and higher ranked officials talk about his regiment, he becomes enraged, furious. This is the turning point of the story, because he makes something of himself from then on. Henry Fleming chooses to redeem himself in battle by becoming one of the best in the 304th regiment. The climax of the novel

Crane, Steven. 1895. The Red Badge of Courage. United States of America: D. Appleton & Company. 163. The Red Badge of Courage focuses on the journey of a young private during the American Civil War while showcasing his hardships and emotions.

War forces young soldiers to grow up quickly. In Stephen Crane’s Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming is no exception. He is faced with the hard reality of war and this forces him to readjust his romantic beliefs about war. Through the novel, the reader can trace the growth and development of Henry through these four stages: (1) romanticizing war and the heroic role each soldier plays, (2) facing the realities of war, (3) lying to himself to maintain his self-importance, and (4) realistic awareness of his abilities and place in life. Through Henry’s experiences in his path to self-discovery, he is strongly affected by events that help shape his ideology of war, death,

People tend to be greatly influenced by stories, news, and other contemporary sources of knowledge, which ultimately affects the impact they have on the world. Stephen Crane was greatly impacted by the time period in which he lived. One such influence was the popular literary style of Realism. Realism is the trend in which literature is based on the true nature of everyday occurrences devoid of any fantasy or romance. It is the raw depiction of what life and society is actually like. This literary style can be found in many of Stephen Crane’s novels. Religion also had a significant impact on the way Stephen Crane wrote his novels. He was an atheist which brought about the idea that humans are just part of nature and must solve their own problems without the intervention of a higher being. This notion is evident with the protagonist of The Red Badge of Courage. Henry Fleming, a young union soldier in the Civil War, must overcome the fear of putting his life at risk to achieve what he wants most which is honor. Honor comes from actively participating in battle and sacrificing his life for the cause. Honor is physically represented from a wound noted as the “Red Badge”. In the end Henry doesn’t consult in a higher being and achieves what he wants most by overcoming the mental obstacles and ultimately finding the strength within to realize what courage actually is. Accompanied by the literary movements and his religion, his time period was heavily influenced by the

The Red Badge of Courage, written by Stephan Crane in 1895 gives a detailed, yet, fictional account of Henry Fleming, a farm boy who joins the Union Army in the American Civil War. Before Henry is battle-tested, he ponders his courage and questions whether he will be able to fight the urge to flee from battle. Henry does indeed end up deserting his comrades however he ultimately overcomes his guilt and becomes one of the best fighters in his regiment. In order to depict a realistic and relatable war scene, Crane includes Henry’s realistic thought-process and emotion in his struggles to maintain courage. The narrative simply revealed war in a manner that was divergent to all prior forms of literature in the 19th century. Previous novels predominately entailed the glorious and romantic aspects of war rather than the tedious, gritty, and gruesome details of close combat. Instead, Crane broke the barriers of literary norms in war-related literature; the novel depicted a pragmatic experience of combat from the eyes of an inexperienced and frightened youth. In the Red Badge of Courage, Stephan Crane primarily uses religious and gory imagery as well as symbolism to contrast the romantic conceptions of war versus the reality of experiencing battle.