An American author once wrote, “by this struggle he had overcome obstacles which he admitted to be [like] mountains” (Stephen Crane 112). Stephen Crane wrote this quote using imagery to entice his readers in the novel The Red Badge of Courage. For the truly advanced writers, they use imagery to create clear concrete thoughts they wish to convey in the readers minds. Even though there are other ways to portray thoughts, the authors also use themes and conflicting ideas to get readers thinking. With the help of imagery, Crane manages to explore conflicting ideas in the novel to dig deeper into themes he wishes to examine. A biological component in all humans is the will to fit in. One of the main themes in the novel is fitting in. “He wished that he, too, had a wound, a …show more content…
With the past quotes of imagery, this next one states the harsh truth about many who go into battle, “it’s my first and last battle, old boy” (Crane 31). From the context in this section of the book, at this point Henry is confronted with this man and his clarification about his fears about war and fighting. Fears of fighting are legitimate, and most soldiers want “death to smite him between the eyes” rather than “to thrust him between the shoulder blades” (Crane 47). When confronting death they can see through Henry’s eyes how dreading a prolonging death can be. Referring to death, black is a typical color associated with death. War is all about injuries among their comrades, and “wounded men were left crying on this black journey” (Crane 127). Religious men usually are not found in battle, but some carried their little association to know a little bit and apply it to their lives. Similes, commonly used in books, create definite meaning such as “he had fought like a pagan who defends his religion” (Crane 112). Pagans dedicate time and effort into making a clear name, which clearly relates to the simile
Though in his short life Stephen Crane was never a soldier, his novel The Red Badge of Courage was commended by Civil War veterans as well as veterans from more recent wars not only for its historical accuracy but its ability to capture the psychological evolution of those on the field of battle (Heizberg xvi). Walt Whitman, on the other hand, served as a field medic during the Civil War. He was exposed perhaps to the most gruesome aspect of the war on a daily basis: the primitive medical techniques, the wounded, the diseased, the dying and the dead. Out of his experiences grew a collection of poems, "Drum Taps" , describing the horrors he had witnessed and that America suffered. As literary artists, a wide chasm of structure and style separates Crane and Whitman. The common cultural experience, the heritage of the Civil War connects them, throwing a bridge across the darkness, allowing them, unilaterally, to dispel notions of glorious battles and heroic honorable deaths. By examining Crane's Henry Fleming and the wound dresser from 'Whitman's poem of the same name, both fundamental literary differences and essential thematic consistencies emerge.
Stephen Crane firmly cemented himself in the canon of American Romanticism with the success of works such as The Red Badge of Courage and "The Blue Hotel." His writing served to probe the fundamental depths of the genre while enumerating on the themes vital to the movement's aesthetic. Such topics as heartfelt reverence for the beauty and ferocity of nature, the general exaltation of emotion over reason and senses over intellect, self-examination of personality and its moods and mental possibilities, a preoccupation with genius and the heroic archetype in general, a focus on passions and inner struggles, and an emphasis on imagination as a gateway to transcendence, as well as a predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, and folk culture are all characteristic of his stories.
The important conflict in The Red Badge of Courage is Henry Fleming's. fear about how he will perform in his first battle. There were three people. who expressed their ideas about their fears before the first skirmish. They Henry Fleming, Tom Wilson, and Jim Conklin.
A pattern of repeated words or phrases can have a significant impact in conveying a particular impression about a character or situation, or the theme of a story. In the story "The Storm," by Kate Chopin, and "The Chrysanthemums," by John Steinbeck, imagery is an integral element in the development of the characters and situation, as well as the development of theme.
Events of crisis tend to reveal people’s true character, as well as help those people learn from the experience. Decisions people make during crises can display what kind of personality they have. In The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane, the youthful main protagonist, Henry, decides to join the army. In the beginning of the novel, Henry exhibits multiple cowardly qualities. However, through a series of battles, Henry learns more about himself and begins to become a remarkably brave soldier. Henry’s transformation from cowardice to bravery is portrayed through Henry’s change in thoughts, actions, and dialogue.
In the Historical fiction, “The Red Badge of Courage”, written by Stephen Crane; a young man try’s to find courage in himself in the time of war. After watching your commander die in war, would you stay and fight or return home and be a coward? Enlisting Himself into war Henry, to be more than the common man to prove worthyness and bravery. With the sergeant dead will Henry lead his men to victory, or withdraw his men in war. Not being the only are faced with the decision Jim and Wilson Henry’s platoons will have the same decision.
The Red Badge of Courage takes place during the Civil war and begins with a soldier named Jim Conklin returning back to his regiment to inform them that they might go into battle any day now. The main character of the story Henry Fleming who was recently recruited in the 304th regiment begins to worry about how brave he really is since he has never really been in battle before. The main reason he joined the army was for the honor and glory that came after the battle but he never really analyzed what it took to gain all the glory and honor that he wanted to obtain.
	The book Red Badge of Courage, is about a physical and emotional pain that a solider of the Civil War might of went through. The soldiers pain comes from all of the horrible things associated with war. The main character, Henery Fleming, joins the Union army dreaming of the heroic things he will accomplish. During the war he discovers that war is not so great and becomes real unsure of himself. Henry then meets up with his friend Jim Then halfway through the book he confronts his cowardice and gains a realistic and sense of duty and responsibility. When the novel ends he has conquered his fear. Then Henry meets Wilson, the loud solider, who I think represents the two sides of human nature. Wilson is a mean and tough guy that no one likes and then towards the end of the book he finds that he really cares about Henry. While Henry is dealing with all of his emotions they are moving into war.
During the Civil War, injuries caused lots of damage on soldiers and their bodies. Usually, when a soldier gets severely injured, amputation was the best option. A common phrase, “Bite the Bullet”, became very prevalent upon the Civil War culture. The phrase literally meant during the amputation process, the surgeon gave an actual bullet to the soldier to bite on while his limb was being removed (Phrases). In the beginning of the novel, Henry constantly contemplated running when the battle started, or staying to fight for victory. Henry did not show any signs of courage until he steeped on the battlefield for the second time and began to fight. Injuries inflicted on Henry and his comrades drew out a lot of courage on themselves along with the rest army division. “At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, ...
The Red Badge of Courage is not a war novel. It is a novel about life. This novel illustrates the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Stephen Crane uses the war as a comparison to everyday life. He is semi-saying that life is like a war. It is a struggle of warriors—the every day people—against the odds. In these battles of everyday life, people can change. In The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry Fleming, undergoes a character change that shows how people must overcome their fears and the invisible barriers that hold them back from being the best people—warriors, in the sense that life is war—they can be. Henry has a character change that represents how all humans have general sense of fear of the unknown that must be overcome.
Piper’s use of imagery in this way gives the opportunity for the reader to experience “first hand” the power of words, and inspires the reader to be free from the fear of writing.
Imagery is used by many authors as a crucial element of character development. These authors draw parallels between the imagery in their stories and the main characters' thoughts and feelings. Through intense imagery, non-human elements such as the natural environment, animals, and inanimate objects are brought to life with characteristics that match those of the characters involved.
This was the turning point for Henry. He started questioning himself and thought about running away. And he did. During his first battle, Henry became scared, confused, and goes into a state of mind where he saw his side losing. He got up and started to run like a "proverbial chicken", who had lost the direction of safety. While running, Henry analyzed himself. He thought of himself as a coward, running away, but he made himself feel better by thinking this is a way of saving himself for a later battle.
The Red Badge of Courage uses both color imagery and color symbols. While Crane uses color to describe, he also allows it to stand for whole concepts. Gray, for example, describes the both the literal image of a dead soldier and Henry Fleming's vision of the sleeping soldiers as corpses and comes to stand for the idea of death. In the same way, red describes both the soldiers' physical wounds and Fleming's mental visions of battle. In the process, it gains a symbolic meaning which Crane will put to an icon like the "red badge of courage" (110, Penguin ed., 1983). Crane uses color in his descriptions of the physical and the metaphysical and allows color to take on meanings ranging from the literal to the figurative.
If it was not for Stephen Crane and his visionary work than American Realism would not have taken hold of the United States during the eighteen hundreds. During the years following the Civil War America was a melting pot of many different writing styles. Many scholars argue that at this time there was still no definite American author or technique. Up to this point authors in the Americas simply copied techniques that were popular in regions of Europe. Stephen Crane came onto the scene with a very different approach to many of his contemporaries. He was a realist, and being such he described actions in a true, unadorned way that portrayed situations in the manner that they actually occurred (Kaplan). He had numerous admired pieces but his most famous work was the Red Badge of Courage (Bentley 103). In this novel he illustrates the accounts of a Union soldier named Henry Fleming. At first the writing was considered too graphic and many people did not buy the book. Eventually the American people changed their opinions and began to gravitate towards Crane’s work. The readers were fascinated by the realistic environment he creates even though he himself had never fought in a war (Bentley 103). By spreading the influence of realistic writing Crane has come to be known as the first American Realist.