Comparing The Red Badge Of Courage And The Veteran By Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane holds a very naturalistic point of view in his writing which can be seen clearly throughout all his works of literacy. He expresses This ideologie through both “The Red Badge of Courage” and “The Veteran.” Throughout the entirety of these writings, Crane is constantly providing naturalistic ideas and poking fun at romanticism.

Crane first introduces the idea of naturalism, In his writing, “The Red Badge of Courage.” The story is filled with horrendous atrocities of men losing limbs and getting blown to pieces during heavy fighting taking place throughout the civil war. Crane stresses his naturalistic views early in the story when he portrays the main character (Henry) running from the battle due to “survival instincts.” Henry

later throws a rock at a squirrel and states, “ Even animals are smart enough to run from what threatens them. It’s the natural way." Crane used this part of his story to prove to readers that humans are just animals at the bone and will either act on a fight or flight reaction to save their own skin. Crane later pokes fun at romanticism when Henry’s expectation of a romantic, heroic send off is met by his mother stating, “The Lord's will be done" and then continuing to milk their cow. This angers Henry cause he no longer feels a strong sense of pride and heroism for enlisting and going off to battle. Both these quotes strongly reflect on cranes naturalistic ideology and his ability to discredit the views of romanticism.
Crane spreads his idea of naturalism a second time through “The Veteran.”, another one of his writings.

This story is full of an ex Civil War soldier expressing his thoughts of fear to a group of people who genuinely believed he was just another soldier with the bravery and spirit of the best of men. The group is shocked after the Veteran states, “Pretty well scared, sometimes. Why, in my first battle I thought the sky was falling down. I thought the world was coming to an end. You bet I was scared.” This explanation of war gives the realistic view of how many men feel during the heat of battle. A second statement in the Veteran reinforces the idea of naturalism when explaining how poorly the men operated during the fire. Crane States, “Their hands went mad. They became incapable of everything save the power to rush into dangerous situations.” The men acted similar to the cows who were also going mad and frantically panicking. Both these views express the similar naturalistic idea that people are no different then animals and will respond to certain situations in similar

ways.
The ideals of naturalism are once again reinforced as romanticism is poked fun at in a few journal entries from soldiers and civilians at the battle of Chancellorsville.

The first account from a young girl (Sue Chancellor) who witnessed the battle further proves Cranes idea that humans are nothing more than animals and will act accordingly. Sue stresses that a battle is not a brave stable fight between to men of honor, but rather a mass chaos of blood and screams. Sue states, “ The woods around the house were a sheet of fire, the air was filled with shot and shell; horses were running, rearing, and screaming; the men a mass of confusion, cussing and praying.” This first hand account further pushes the idea that man is no different than any other animal during battle. A second description from a Confederates soldier shows how some soldiers saw the end of the battle in a very romantic fashion. The journal entry states, “ in the midst of this awful seen general Lee rodento the front of his advancing battalions… I thought it must have been from some such a scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of the gods.” The irony of this scene would most certainly cause an outburst of laughter from any naturalist in their right mind. The irony is that the soldier is seeing the event as a very humbling and spiritual experience while thousands of his comrades are laying around him slowly dying. This entry from just one soldier can explain the mindset of millions of

soldiers and humans in the past and present who often romanticize great events in our lives no matter how awful the situation. These writings work in cohesion to further strengthen Cranes naturalistic point of view.
In conclusion Crane worked to spread his idea of naturalism through his many works of literature. These writings also exposed the irony of many humans natural tendency to perceive great events romantically no matter how bad or pointless the situation seems.