Analysis Of The Red Badge Of Courage By Stephen Crane

The Real War Walt Whitman once said, “The real war will never get in the books” ("Critical Reception: Early Reviews,” 2014). During Stephen Crane’s era, dozens of Civil War novels focused on large-scale concerns such as troop movements, wins and losses, and tactical maneuvers. These specific novels neglected to focus on the more limited, yet more intense, perspective of a foot soldier. Crane utilized his own personal experiences and astute observations to realistically portray the psychological complexities of fear, cowardice, and courage of a Civil War soldier on the battlefield ("Stephen Crane," 2014). Crane was the youngest of fourteen children; therefore, his desire to write was heavily inspired by his family. Together, his father and

They spout enough of what they did, but they're as 
emotionless as rocks” ("Critical Reception: Early Reviews," 2014). This idea majorly influenced the writing of his greatest work, The Red Badge of Courage. Crane made it his mission to focus less on battle, and more on a soldier’s psyche and responses to war. He constructs a novel depicting the young Henry Fleming, who must overcome many emotions and feelings of which he is guilty. For example, Henry has a very important decision to make: he can either be known as a coward and escape death, or risk death as an honorable soldier (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). He realizes he must either kill or be killed. Because of this, The Red Badge of Courage is considered a Realistic work (Campbell, 2013). This is not your typical plot line of a Civil War Novel because it doesn’t just portray the physical aspects of war; it portrays the psychological effects as well. His descriptions of war are so accurate, that some critics thought he was an experienced war general. This novel is one of the first unromanticized accounts of the civil war as Fleming transforms from an immature, inexperienced coward, to an honorable, courageous soldier ("Critical Reception: Early Reviews," 2014). Because he depicts this maturation with precise accuracy, Crane becomes