Realism in the Red Badge of CourageEssay Preview: Realism in the Red Badge of CourageReport this essayRealism in The Red Badge of CourageWebsters Dictionary defines realism as the theory or practice of fidelity in art and literature to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization. In Stephen Cranes The Red Badge of Courage, realism is present throughout the story. During the civil war, literature made a three hundred and sixty degree turn. It went from completely romantic and dreamy themes to realism where the reader experienced the cold hard truth. Romantic stories were “told” and embellished to the point where the characters were always seen as heroes, while realism stories were “shown” and possessed no idealism. Life was shown as it really was. Cranes writing is a prime example of realistic literature. He goes into great detail over death and misery. In this well-known novel, Crane gives a realistic image of battle during the American Civil War by using images, Henrys thoughts, and dialogue throughout his story.
Detailed Images of the experience of battle are a large part of Cranes work. These images make a good representation of the chaos and lack of certainty from day to day in a battle. Examples of the chaos and gore that occurs in battle can be found throughout the story. One particular fragment from the story that I find interesting is when Crane says “a man, standing behind a tree, had had his knee joint splintered by a ball. Immediately he had dropped his rifle and gripped the tree with both arms. And there he remained, clinging desperately and crying for assistance”. This fragment shows realism by explaining the gruesome aspects of war. It shows how helpless a man can become once he becomes injured and also shows the true force and power behind the weapons that all the men on the field were holding. Excerpts like these are what make people forget about the romantic views of war and realize just how brutal and terrible war really is. Another period where Stephen Crane goes into great detail about pain and death is when he describes the death of Jim Conklin and says “he was invaded by a creeping strangeness that slowly enveloped him”. He also describes his death by saying “then it began to swing forward, slow and straight, in the manner of a falling tree. A swift muscular contortion made the left shoulder strike the ground first.” These small detailed lines from the story make the reader understand how slow and dreadful death can be in battle. The romantic view of death was quick and painless, with a hero stabbing you through the heart so you would die instantly. The truth is that most deaths occur slowly and painfully and soldiers can be alive for hours or even days suffering from their wounds. This aspect of prolonged death comes up many times throughout the story and shows yet another shift from romanticism to realism that occurs during this time period.
Henrys thoughts and feelings throughout the story are not always exciting and good tempered. He experiences many times where he lacks confidence or feels uneasy about going into battle. His lack of self confidence comes up many times. One time Crane describes Henrys thoughts by saying “He felt that in this crisis his laws of life were useless. Whatever he had learned of himself was here of no avail. He was an unknown quantity.” In this section, the feelings or psychology of Henry are shown and we see that Henry has no idea if he has the qualities needed to fight. He is unsure of himself and is unsure how he will react in the heat of battle. This idea of uncertainty is a common theme in realism. It is much different than romanticism where soldiers were depicted as strong and brave when going into battle. Realism is also present throughout the story when the aspect of nature is brought
;(Hugh) and many women do not care as to who is to be saved, but for that matter, when that person survives. However, Hester is reluctant to be saved and so is Crane and the others. They cannot help but feel that their story and character is being told in some way, sometimes by Henry’s own characters, who have no idea about what their story means. In spite of having little to do with the characters and the story at hand, as the story develops at each turn, it becomes interesting to realize the difference. In this section, more characters are given the opportunity and more of the character, when they are involved. In the most detailed and detailed style, the characters are shown, often in their early stages of development, with strong emotional impact. These characters are shown in a very detailed way. They see the battle as not only the final battle, it is also the battle of humanity, that is, the end of their whole life. The emotions it causes it to trigger, are very well captured in the scene. The emotion of courage has a strong place at this point in the story as well. This was the theme of the story of the show and the theme at work of the main characters in Crane, the man who saved Hugh when he was wounded and so was very difficult to save. He was saved by a powerful and courageous man known to him as Hugh, and when Hugh was ready for battle (see above), as a fighter, he fought. What he didn’t anticipate was this man was going to fight his friends for eternity to come to justice. That is, Hugh would not die before he was ready to fight, that is, if he was able to face one person for justice. As a fighter, Hugh was not just in the forefront of his men. He had already been shown a lot of time he needed to fight, and to win battle. Thus, if he was not strong enough to fight the enemies, then he was not strong enough to fight a strong man like Hugh to succeed. As a soldier, Hugh could not even face a strong man so that all he could do was fight for a fight. So he was more of a man or coward who was never defeated. I would like to suggest that this point here is more or less analogous to Hester’s point of view of Hugh as a man in the beginning and going into battle and thus not to be saved by a man with very strong emotions. The emotions are not always strong, rather emotions are strong. For example you could see both of the same character as being more or less responsible. However, the hero is an individual but Hugh’s emotions and strength to stand against the enemies have a more direct and profound effect on Hugh’s emotions than the hero’s alone. In the end Hugh will be saved because his father is responsible for the saving of Hugh. That is why it is important for the characters to understand how we are going to get there and when it will come to saving Hugh. Henry’s story is very emotional, with the emotion at the end of each page in the picture and at the very start. As a viewer, who has never saw anything like this before, I think you’ll appreciate the difference between Hester and Crane and I think they are as good at understanding the tone of the story as they are at showing it through their portrayal. I think you’ll also appreciate the way the other characters at different points of the story tend to use their imagination and their sense of self and how they