Stephen Crane

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The Red Badge of Courage

• Stephen Crane

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Stephen Crane 1871-1900
The Red Badge of Courage is one of the first
modern American novels.
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The Red Badge of Courage

• The events in this famous novel take place during
  the American Civil War, probably at the Battle of
  Chancellorsville, which was fought in May, 1863.
  The episodic plot revolves around a young Union
  soldiers anxiety as he confronts his first
  battle and explores larger themes of fear and
  bravery, patriotism, and brotherhood.

The Battle of Chancellorsville, which is in
northern Virginia
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Historical Background

• During the 1860s, conventional beliefs held that
  a young mans character was best tested in war.
  The battlefield demanded patriotism, bravery,
  obedience, and faith in a particular cause.
  Crane explored the theme of character development
  as a result of war experiences, but he treated
  the theme critically, using the methods of
  realism and naturalism.

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The American Civil War

• The Civil War formally began on April 12, 1861
• President Lincoln issued a call for volunteers to
  defend the Union and abolish slavery
• Each day, newspapers throughout the North and
  South were filled with the exciting details of
  the battles
• Union and Confederate forces were unprepared for
  a long war the armies were poorly trained, and
  discipline was weak
• About one million men were wounded, and more than
  500,000 died, either from battle wounds or disease

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Postwar Realism and Naturalism

• After the Civil War, the nations main concern
  was the expansion of commerce and industry
• New scientific views of the world began to
  undermine traditional religious views
• Many American writers found in realism the best
  way to explain these changing conditions
• Romanticism had idealized the imagination, but
  realism emphasized the dispassionate observation
  of fact
• The rise of naturalism corresponded with the
  increasing industrialization of society
• Naturalism contended that human beings are
  helpless creatures passively influenced by
  heredity, environment, and the cruel forces of
  nature
• Naturalist writers focused on the sordid,
  painful, and tragic aspects of the human
  experience

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Postwar Realism and Naturalism

• Stephen Cranes work contains elements of both
  realism and naturalism. Crane did not just want
  to depict reality as it was he also wanted to
  present a personal vision of the world. The Red
  Badge of Courage combines observant reporting of
  details with the revelation of the forces at work
  within and around the novels protagonist, Henry
  Fleming.

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Stephen Crane

• Crane was born in 1871 in Newark, New Jersey
• He was an introspective, rebellious young man who
  thirsted for adventure in spite of frequent
  illness
• Though he died at the age of 28, Crane left
  behind novels, stories, and poems that secured
  his place in the history of American literature

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Early Years

• Crane was the youngest of fourteen children
• He was fascinated by the military record of his
  family and entered a military school in New York
  when he was 17
• Crane excelled in military drill and greedily
  absorbed stories about military battles as
  described by Civil War veterans who taught at the
  school

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A Career in Writing

• Crane lived among the poor in New York City, and
  from this experience he wrote his first novel,
  and the first American naturalist novel, Maggie
  A Girl of the Streets, in 1893
• Though later considered a solid novel critically,
  because of its controversial topic, it was a
  financial failure at the time

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The Red Badge of Courage

• Originally published serially in the Philadelphia
  Press in December, 1894, the novel was widely
  praised both by the general public and by
  literary critics
• Crane had long been fascinated by the psychology
  of war he had read books, listened to many
  stories by veterans of the Civil War, and studied
  closely the war photographs of Matthew Brady
• Many readers are amazed to learn that Crane did
  not experience a battle firsthand until four
  years after the novel was published
• When he did, he was relieved to discover that
  his novel was all right

President Lincoln sits for an official photograph
by Matthew Brady
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An Early Death

• The Red Badge of Courage brought Crane only
  ninety dollars, but his fame spread
• He traveled in the American West and Mexico he
  smuggled arms to Cuban revolutionaries, and he
  was shipwrecked off the Florida coast, which
  would prove to be the inspiration for The Open
  Boat, considered his masterpiece
• Crane tried to enlist in the United States Navy
  but was rejected because of poor health he did
  cover the war as a correspondent
• Crane died in 1900 of tuberculosis, six months
  before his 29th birthday

Crane with his wife, Cora, in 1899, just months
before his death
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Major Characteristics

• The Red Badge of Courage made a startling
  impression on its first readers, for there were
  no other books of its kind
• The novel showed great originality, especially in
  its treatment of character and its sparse, poetic
  language
• Other important characteristics of the novel are
  the use of realistic and naturalistic details and
  the exploration of themes of universal concern

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Stephen Crane's Style

• Cranes writing is spare and compressed, and he
  uses a relatively simple vocabulary
• Crane gives little attention to characterization
  of individuals, and the novels important
  characters are initially identified as the
  youth, the loud soldier, and the tall
  soldier
• Crane concentrates on the thoughts and
  impressions of Henry Fleming, describing the
  self-doubt, guild, sense of isolation, and terror

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Elements of Realism and Naturalism

• Crane was a realist in his determination to write
  honestly about life as he saw it
• Crane saw nature as indifferent to human beings
  and viewed individuals as a mixture of good and
  bad qualities
• Crane used details that illustrate the
  senselessness and brutality of war, the horror of
  death, and human weaknesses such as false pride
  and selfishness
• Crane did not glorify heroism in battle

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Elements of Realism and Naturalism

• Like the naturalists, Crane focused on the sordid
  details of life and on characters who are shaped
  by their heredity and environment
• Henry Fleming struggles with indifferent natural
  and social forces over which he has no control
• Despite Henrys inability to escape his
  situation, Crane suggests that the outcome of
  this struggle can be courage and self-respect

Henry Fleming picks up the American flag
before it touches the ground
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Themes in The Red Badge of Courage

• The novel deals with the inner conflicts of Henry
  Fleming, but it is not altogether a character
  study
• The novel is one writers effort to address
  certain significant questions that, sooner or
  later, all human beings must ask themselves
• Five questions are of paramount importance in the
  novel
• How do people act when faced with adversity,
  danger, and death?
• How do we cope with feelings of inferiority,
  fear, guilt, loneliness, and anger?
• What is our responsibility to other beings?
• Are the forces of nature sympathetic, hostile, or
  indifferent to us?
• Who or what determines our fates? What control
  do we have over our own destinies?

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Due Dates for Discussion and Tests

• Chapters 1-7
• Chapters 8-11
• Chapters 12-18
• Chapters 19-25