The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane is consistently regarded as one of the greatest realistic writers in American history. Although he only lived to be 28 years old Crane is regarded highly for his realistic style and is most recognized for his novel The Red Badge of Courage in which a young recruit in the Union army becomes a military hero for his actions in combat. The novel is highly regarded for it's realistic coverage of the Civil War despite Crane being born long after the end of the war. With his emphasis on the nature of the combat and the gritty descriptions of the war in his novel. In fact Crane was so successful in his authoring of the story people are often misled into thinking Crane was a veteran who saw combat in the Civil War.

As Quinn describes Realism, "In art and literature, a term covering a broad range of views centered on the attempt to depict life as it is usually experienced, without recourse to miraculous events, larger-than-life characters, or supernatural intervention. In a realistic text, the emphasis is on the way things are for ordinary people, whose behavior and speech mirror their social position and cultural attitudes." Crane is able to successfully portray the unrelenting cascade of emotions that flood a soldier as the adrenaline pumps into his system heightening his senses beyond that of a normal man. His descriptions of the blood rush and the pure energy tat rushes through a soldier in those adrenaline filled moments is highly regarded and champions the writing style of the novel.

The main character of The Red Badge of Courage is a young 18 year old Henry Fleming, an American everyman. His harrowing journey documented his trials and his emotional growth and how the war changes this innocent young man. He does not desire the American Dream, only to truly discover who he is in this war and he successfully learns about himself and his abilities through his service.

Stephen Crane painted a vivid portrait of the war and it's battles through his words with lines such as, "He developed the acute exasperation of a pestered animal, a well-meaning cow worried by dogs. He had a mad feeling against his rifle, which could only e used against one life at a time. he wished to rush forward and strangle with his fingers. He craved a power that would enable him to make a world-sweeping gesture and brush all back. His impotency appeared to him, and his rage into that of a driven beast." Crane portrays the emotion of rage that Fleming feels in this passage as the adrenaline beats throughout his body, a feat that any realist would appreciate. His unparalleled ability to reveal the mentality of his characters and their thoughts and feeling at the time, similar to any of which a regular person has felt ranks his work among other realist stories and cements Crane as a realist author of unparalleled talent. His masterful writing style along with his ability to reveal the psych of characters and use of the everyman as a hero are common realist traits.




Quinn, Edward. "realism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0706&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 15, 2011).


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