Stephen Crane was one of America's foremost realistic writers, and his works have been credited with marking the beginning of modern American Naturalism (“Stephen Crane”). Stephen was intrigued by the battles of the Civil War and he wrote many of his works surrounding them. The individuals that knew the war well, and who even fought in some of the battles, were shocked because of how accurately Stephen portrayed the battle techniques and feelings of the soldiers. Stephen Crane had never been in combat, so instead of writing about personal experience, he wrote based off of the interviews he conducted and by study photographs and accounts. Not only was Crane in the habit of writing on the Civil War, but he also left many unanswered questions in his writings. The fact that Crane left behind unanswered questions caused readers to evaluate their ideas on multiple things regarding individuals. Two such …show more content…
writings of Stephen Crane that caused readers to reevaluate their ideas about a person’s actions, thoughts, and feelings; was The Red Badge of Courage and An Episode of War. First of all, Stephen Crane causes the reader to rethink their idea about people’s actions in The Red Badge of Courage and An Episode of War. An Episode of War is a story about a Civil War lieutenant who is shot by a stray bullet in the arm. Crane brings up the question regarding the helplessness of the injured. One would think that when someone is injured, he or she will wish for the aid and companionship of others. Especially if this wound is more on the severe side. Wouldn’t it be thought that the injured would also want the help of a companion if they were in severe pain? That perhaps the company of someone would reassure them? Crane completely throws out this idea in both stories causing the reader to rethink the actions of the ones who are injured or dying. “There were others who proffered assistance. One timidly presented his shoulder and asked the lieutenant if he cared to lean upon it, but the latter waved him away mournfully” (An Episode of War). In The Red Badge of Courage, the young soldier, Henry Fleming, has come upon one of his friends staggering along with the injured. “The youth wished his friend to lean upon him, but the other always shook his head and strangely protested. ‘No-no-no- leave me be- leave me be-‘” (The Red Badge of Courage). The shooing of help away from both injured characters really makes the reader wonder why. Perhaps it is because they are aware of the fact that they are helpless and they stand alone in their injuries. Secondly, Stephen Crane makes the reader re-evaluate their idea about people’s thoughts in his two stories The Red Badge of Courage and An Episode of War. Many individuals are capable of false words. They can lead an individual or a group of people to believe the words they are saying when in reality, they are lying through their teeth. However, most people do not question the thoughts of doctors and war officials. In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry and his companion, Wilson, are going out to look for a stream to get water after a battle. They are unsuccessful in finding water and on their way back, they overhear some officers discussing an upcoming battle. One of the officers included is the leader of their regiment and a general. The general asks what troops can be used in the offensive attack and Henry’s regiment is nominated. Then the general states, “I don’t believe many of your mule drivers will make it back” (Red Badge of Courage). This statement shocks the two men. How could they of fought so bravely and well, yet they are still seen as mule drivers who will easily get slaughtered? In An Episode of War, the wounded lieutenant is finally discovered by a doctor who wishes to examine his wounds. The doctor tries to get the lieutenant to come with him so he can tend to his wounds, but the lieutenant confides in the doctor that he does not want his arm amputated. The doctor gives him reassuring words, “Nonsense! Come along, now. I won’t amputate it. Come along. Don’t be a baby!” (An Episode of War). Unfortunately, the lieutenant’s arm does get amputated. Of course, why would he question a doctor? Doctors are meant to help, and they don’t lie. How could the lieutenant of known what the doctors true thoughts about his injury were? Crane really makes the reader question the thoughts about the true intentions of the ones that are supposed to lead and help. Last, but not least, Stephen Crane makes the reader revise his or her views about the feelings of people.
When people go through certain traumatic events it is expected that they will have certain emotions and those emotions will bring them down. Eventually they could lead to depression. In An Episode of War, when the lieutenant comes home, his family sobs at the sight of his flat sleeve. Instead of telling them that he is angry at the doctor because he lied or even crying along with them he just says, “Oh, well. I don’t suppose it matters so much as all that.” His tone is sort of passive, which is totally unexpected from someone who just lost their arm. In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry is very guilty because he reacted angrily and left the tattered soldier all alone when he asked him, “Where is your'n located?” Towards the end of the book, Henry uses this guilt and humiliation to redeem himself (Stallman) to help him mature morally and become a courageous man (Dillingham). Instead of letting his guilt drag him down, Henry unexpectedly uses it to help build himself
up. In conclusion, Crane was a brilliant writer and he not only wrote beautiful stories about the Civil War, but he also made the readers reevaluate their views about a person’s actions, thoughts and feelings. Crane throws out the idea that the injured need aid, and he also makes the readers question the truthfulness of the thoughts of the ones who are meant to help us. He also defies the typical emotions expected from certain situations. Unfortunately, Stephen Crane died at the young age of 28, but yet, he produced a substantial body of literature that espouses a bold and robust humanism (Dooley). He is considered a literary prodigy who wrote as quickly and passionately as he lived (Wiggins).
Stephen W. Sears’ Landscape Turned Red is an account of political and military plans. Especially General Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign as well as the Battle of Antietam. Sears frames his work around the pending support of Great Britain and France to the Confederate cause due to cotton. Landscape Turned Red covers the battle of Antietam. It offers a vivid account of both armies, the soldiers and officers, and the bloody campaign. It analyzes the impact of Antietam on the Civil War as a whole. Sears' use of diaries, dispatches, and letters recreate the Battle of Antietam. You experience the battle not only from its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Sears attempts to examine the tactical moves of both Lee and General George McClellan. He also talks about the foolish decisions that troubled both the Federal and Confederate forces. Sears' use of traits, political pursuits, and tactical preferences, explain the thoughts of many. Some of these include President Lincoln, General Halleck and General McClellan, and their subordinates. Stephen Ward Sears is an American historian specializing in the American Civil War. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and an attendant to a journalism seminar at Radcliffe-Harvard. As an author he has concentrated on the military history of the American Civil War. Such as the battles and leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He was an editor for the Educational Department at American Heritage Publishing Company. American Heritage Publishing two of his ten books.
More than 25,000 letters and 250 private diaries from men on both side of North and South. Talking about the soldier's ideals for which they fought over conflicts and beliefs of each side. McPherson took all of the soldier’s ideas and beliefs and made this powerful and important book on an often-overlooked aspect of the Civil War. Also, it brought great honor and powerfully moving account for the men that fought in the civil war.
In the novel Shiloh, historian and Civil War expert Shelby Foote delivers a spare, unflinching account of the battle of Shiloh, which was fought over the course of two days in April 1862. By mirroring the troops' movements through the woods of Tennessee with the activity of each soldier's mind, Foote offers the reader a broad perspective of the battle and a detailed view of the issues behind it. The battle becomes tangible as Foote interweaves the observations of Union and Confederate officers, simple foot soldiers, brave men, and cowards and describes the roar of the muskets and the haze of the gun smoke. The author's vivid storytelling creates a rich chronicle of a pivotal battle in American history.
It is always said that war changes people. In the short story 'The Red Convertible', Louise Erdrich uses Henry to show how it affects people. In this case, the effects are psychological. You can clearly see a difference between his personalities from before he goes to war compared to his personalities after returns home from the war. Before the war, he is a care-free soul who just likes to have fun. After the war, he is very quiet and defensive, always watching his back as if waiting for someone to strike.
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
War changes a person in ways that can never be imagined. Living in a war as well as fighting in one is not an experience witnessed in everyday life. Seeing people die every time and everywhere you go can be seen as an unpleasant experience for any individual such as Henry. The experiences that Henry had embraced during the Vietnam War have caused him to become an enraged and paranoid being after the war. It has shaped him to become this individual of anxiety and with no emotions. The narrator says:
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.
We learn that when Henry comes home from the war, he is suffering from PTSD. "It was at least three years before Henry came home. By then I guess the whole war was solved in the governments mind, but for him it would keep on going" (444). PTSD changes a person, and it doesn 't always stem from war. Henry came back a completely different person. He was quiet, and he was mean. He could never sit still, unless he was posted in front of the color TV. But even then, he was uneasy, "But it was the kind of stillness that you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it will bolt"
O’Brien, Tim. How to Tell a True War Story. Literature and Ourselves. Sixth Edition. Eds.
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we alter and lose our freedoms, it will destroy ourselves,” said Abraham Lincoln. The novel Killer Angels as told by Michael Shaara, examines the three day Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of several key people of the battle. The book looks at the battle and how each person viewed the events of the three day battle. General Robert E. Lee was a good general, but during this particular battle, he did not make the best of decisions, which led to the Confederate troops losing the war. The loss was a result of Lee’s own poor physical and emotional health, the welfare and conditions for the soldiers who fought for him as well as the weather that they were faced with and the conflict between
In chapter nine, Henry shows his brave character once again. In Paula, Henry was installed in a roadside trench. Some of the men were hungry so Henry volunteered to go and fetch some cold macaroni from the other side of the trench. The major advised him against it and said, “You better wait until the shelling is over.” Henry replied, “They want to eat.” (53) As Henry and the others came back to the dugout, shelling began and bombs burst around them. Then the blast furnace door swung open and Henry was badly injured. This incident showed his selfless courage and bravery. He did not have to do it, yet he went and got the food anyway. Henry risked his life for the others, and that is another true sign of bravery.
Seeking and expressing the bare truth is often more difficult than writing stories of fiction. This truth can be harsher to the reader than works of fiction; it can make an author's desire to reveal the essence of society through characters the reader relates to risky and unpopular. Stephen Crane wrote of ordinary people who face difficult circumstances that his readers could relate to (Seaman 148). Crane sought to debunk the ideas that were inherent in nineteenth-century literature, which depicted life in a more favorable, but often unrealistic, light. In Crane's works, Dorothy Nyren Curley says, "There are no false steps, no excesses," (255).
The Civil War is said to be one of America’s bloodiest wars. Neighbors killed neighbors and brothers killed brothers; the entire nation was divided. Two opposing sides had formed, the North and the South, and each side was led into battle by a powerful general. The North was led by General Ulysses S. Grant and the South was led by General Robert E. Lee. These men were both alike and different. This is shown in Bruce Catton’s “Grant and Lee: a Study in Contrast”. Through Catton’s essay it is shown that during the Civil War America was divided and each side was living different lives with different perspectives, while at the same time both sides leaders, Grant and Lee, were equally matched and represented Americas division.
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.
Imagine a Veteran of the Civil War reminiscing about the past. The veteran imagines how he was running away during a battle, because he was terrified. The veteran’s name is Henry Fleming. Henry talks about the battle of Chancellorsville and how he was afraid. The Battle of Chancellorsville was understandably terrifying, because it was one of the bloodiest struggles of the civil war (“The Battle: Chancellorsville”). Henry is so terrified, because he thinks that all of the opposing soldiers are shooting at him and only him (Crane). Stephen crane was a realistic writer, creating many books. Even though he did not have war experience at the time, he got his combat experience from the football field (“Stephen Crane”). Crane