Compare And Contrast An Episode Of War And Realism

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Beginning in the late 19th century, two separate forms of movements spread across America acknowledged as Realism and Naturalism. While the two were very akin in their beliefs and ideals, there were still many differences between the two time periods. Realism was a period of literature that began from 1850 and lasted through 1914. Realism began, mainly because it was a reaction to the Romanticism time period. It showed a truthful representation of life during the civil war. But however, this is not the case for the Naturalism time period. Naturalism focused on mainly emphasizing on the brutal aspects of existence. Social Darwinism was a main characteristic of Naturalism due to the fact that it helped determine the characters fates.
In Stephen Crane’s “An Episode of War” is an example of both Realism and Naturalism. In this short and fascinating story, it implements many examples of settings and beliefs in which people seem to be incompetent. It also provides how the character’s situation is mainly based on his personal decisions. In the beginning of the story, Naturalism is shown as the lieutenant first glimpses blood from a gunshot wound on his arm. This was a substantial situation in which no decisions could have been made by the lieutenant to
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Despite the fact that he composed the story various years before the Civil War had occurred, Crane wished to capture the cruel realities facing soldiers amid this tumultuous time of both immense agony and suffering. For instance, when Crane used historical details from the time period of the Civil War, such as a soldier trying “to sheathe a sword held by the left hand, at the middle of the blade, in a scabbard hung at the left hip,” to make the story believable (Crane 477). Amid the Civil War, the utilization of swords was normal, and this is a point of interest which brings a sense of Realism to a story from this