Realism In 'The Red Badge Of Courage'

Many different perspectives reside on this planet. Some look at the beautry in the world and see nothing but good. Others argue that a romantic view of the world is unrealistic. Stephen Crane was born in a time where there was much controversy over these two different views. Although The Red badge of Courage has been claimed to be a work of naturalism, his views belonged to a class of artisits classified as realists (Poetry Foundation). The realists believed that the reader should get a realistic representation of the world from what the author wrties. They thought that romanticism was a lie, and had corrupted society into believing many untrue fantasies. The battlefield was seen as a way to gain praise. Many young men dreamed of glorious victories, …show more content…
George Parson Lathrop writes in Atlantic Monthly, “ Realism sets itself at work to consider characters and events which are apparently the most ordinary and uninteresting, in order to extract from these their full value and true meaning” (Lathrop). After the civil war people wanted to hear the truth. Frustration and distrust assumed on both sides of the borders. Prior to the civil war politicans kept on insisting that the problem of slavery was fixed. Now that seven hundred and fifty thousand Americans died, the people knew not to believe anything easy to believe (Holzer). Realism tries to depict the most accurate account of a story, and that is just what the American people were looking …show more content…
The main character Henry Fleming, was a young boy that dreamed of glory on the battlefield. His oppurtunity came when he joined the army, which was contray to his mothers wishes. Crane writes, “He felt that in this crisis his laws of life were useless. Whatever he had learned of himself was here of no avail. He was an unknown quantity. He saw that he would again be obliged to experiment as he had in early youth. He must accumulate information of himself, and meanwhile he resolved to remain close upon his guard lest those qualities of which he knew nothing should everlastingly disgrace him. "Good Lord!" he repeated in dismay” (Crane 14 ). Henry realizes here that his mother was right. The chivalrous morals that he learned in hs youth would do him no good on the battlefield. He would have to try new things to thrive in this environment. Henry's expectations of war was immature, and he went into battle without significant knowledge of what it would take. He realizes that the battle is not all about the physical fighting, but also the mental state. Crane writes, “He finally concluded that the only way to prove himself was to go into the blaze, and then figuratively to watch his legs to discover their merits and faults. He reluctantly admitted that he could not sit still and with a mental slate and pencil derive an answer. To gain it, he must have blaze, blood, and

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