Stephan Crane

Stephan Crane is a naturalist writer. He was born six years after the Civil War (Naturalism). This shows that he was not truly affected by the war itself. He still had to deal with problems that came after the war. Though many of the problems would have sufficed more over time as he grew up. The story "The Red Badge of Courage" is about a man who goes into war (Crane). In the war, the man becomes a coward (Crane). He gets scared and starts to run away from the fire and the action (Crane). I do not blame him. I think it would be scary to go in to war. It is kind of his fault because he knew what he was getting in to and he should of been prepared. As he is running back to his group because he is scared, on of the other soldiers hits him in the head with the end part of a rifle (Crane). He gets hurt. When he goes back to his home, he is awarded the Red Badge of Courage (Crane). The Red Badge of Courage is a badge that is given to people who were harmed in war. He did not deserve the badge because he did not actually get hurt in the line of fire. When he got home, everyone felt sorry for him because he was hurt. He did not deny any of the claims that he was actually hurt in the line of fire (Crane). But, he did not tell anyone that he did get hurt. They all assumed that he was hurt in action and he deserved a badge of courage for it. So now, he is a coward for running away in the middle of a battle and a liar. He did not lie, but he also did not correct the truth which is just as bad as telling a lie. He feels bad about it. Everyone would feel bad if they were given an award for something they would not have even gotten if they would not have been so scared. He decided to go back to war (Crane). He was not careful for what he was doing (Crane). He was trying to make up for the lie he has been telling and he wanted to feel accomplished as a soldier (Crane). He was not cautious enough (Crane). The flag that marks where the separate sides of the battle are on, was moving back (Crane). The soldier went up, grabbed the flag, started to go forward to move the soldiers up (Crane). That is very heroic, but he did not think before he did it and he should have been more careful. Luckily he lived.
Crane used naturalism in his work. He did by telling how the guy was feeling and the items surrounding him. Naturalism is showing how people interact with science and their surroundings (Campbell). Crane has a hero in his work. The soldier is a hero in his own way because he comes back and redeems his name (Naturalism). I can tell it is naturalism by the statement, "He developed the acute expersation of a pestered animal, a well meaning cow worried by dogs" (Crane). This is because Crane uses the analogy of a scared cow to the soldiers feelings on the battle field (Crane). Crane's use of naturalism gives a great story about a soldier and he searching for heroism.

"Naturalism." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 492. Print.

Crane, Stephan "The Red Bag of Courage." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 493. Print.

Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature." Washington State University - Pullman, Washington. 27 July 2010. Web. 08 Feb. 2011.