Stephen Crane – from The Red Badge of Courage

"The Red Badge of Courage" is a very emotional and moving piece of literature. The work follows a man's story as he joins the Civil War (Crane). The man mentally beats himself up over all of the things that he is not able to do as well as things that he can not do against the other men (Crane). Crane describes the thoughts that are rushing through the man's head as he is blinded by smoke in great detail. The man is not angry about the fact that he cannot see his attackers; He is angry about all of the rage and feelings that are suffocating him (Crane). This work shows many different things about others, and it is very enlightening for people that are not in the military. People can take this piece of literature in different ways because it shows a different side to people that is not normally depicted by common authors.

This is mostly a piece of Naturalism literature. While all parts of Realism believe in using facts and details in order to get their point across, Naturalism is special in its effort to record every precise detail about everything (Sommers). The main goal of Naturalism is to take a scientific approach to things and record the exact physical and emotional experiences undergone by the subject. The way that the man is studied and compared to things supports this being a Naturalism work (Crane). The author is studying his feelings and what he wants to do and how he feels about killing all of the men around him (Crane). They are studying him in a certain setting to see how he reacts and to see if the researchers could find that all people react in the same way to certain situations (Crane).

The story details the journey of soldiers in the Civil War, and therefore it is a very unpleasant story (Crane). The story shows how a person reacts when forced to kill others over and over again (Crane). Unfortunately, the truth that is revealed is that when forced to do these things repeatedly, it almost becomes second nature. The truth revealed about humanity in this work is that we can adapt to virtually anything, even things that we might not think we are capable of. this man is compared to so many different things (Crane). He is compared to things like subjects of scientific studies are compared to things, so that one can understand the relation (Crane). It is almost studying his feelings and what he wants to do to kill all of the men around him (Crane). It is studying him in a certain setting to see how he reacts and to see if the researchers could find that all people react in the same way to certain situations (Crane).

This work reflects society at that time period not very well (Crane). The story shows that people were beginning to have a greater interest in science and how the human brain works, but it does not show current events, political issues, or opinions on global issues (Crane). There was nothing about religion, government, or nature (Crane). This work shows how frustrated people can become when it comes to something they are self conscious about (Crane). There is not much about the American Dream, and there is also not much figurative language (Crane). There is so supposed "hero", but if the man were to have one I'm sure it'd be a hero with a loaded rifle (Crane).

Works Cited

Crane, Stephen. "The Red Badge of Courage." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 493.

Sommers, Joseph Michael. "naturalism." In Maunder, Andrew. Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS450&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 15, 2011).