The Red Badge of Courage

The story that I will be responding to is called The Red Badge of Courage by a man named Stephan Crane. The story is set in the time of the civil war. The main character is a soldier named Henry. Henry is on the Union (blue side) of the Civil War. This was a time of huge controversy and problems. This is a dead give away of an example of Thoreau's writings because it is a very controversial topic at the time. It gets even more controversial when they talk about how Henry wasn't a faithful soldier. The story talks about his thoughts before he later on actually did leave his soldiers and flee to the woods,"It had suddenly appeared to him that perhaps in a battle he might run. He was forced to admit that as far as war was concerned he knew nothing of himself." (Crane) This shows Henry's general struggle to find himself, so that way we can find himself a true man. He talks about hard troubles with his mother "But his mother had discouraged him. She had affected to look with some contempt upon the quality of his war ardor and patriotism." (Crane) This definitely effected his time in the war and the author Stephan Crane definitely displayed this very well. This emotional tie and truly heartening topic is very much something that Emerson would right about. Emerson is known for his really intense emotional concepts that touch people to their core, Crane did this as well talk about this mans life. A literary critic said "As an artist, Crane set out to capture the "unaesthetic whirl" in an aesthetic rendering that would preserve the dark tension of its beauty, and Red Badge is entirely consistent with that aim." (Shanahan) This critic is basically saying that this work is a work of art because it displays this disheartening story in such a way that it does it's exact purpose of awareness and inspiration of the war. Thoreau and Emerson were also well known for their wonderful ways of displaying awareness of difficult topics in their time periods.


Crane, Stephan. "Untitled Document." The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. .

Shanahan, Daniel. "The Army Motif in The Red Badge of Courage as a Response to Industrial Capitalism." Papers on Language & Literature 32, no. 4 (Fall 1996). Quoted as "The Army Motif in The Red Badge of Courage as a Response to Industrial Capitalism" in Bloom, Harold, ed. The Red Badge of Courage, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= MCITRBC012&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 28, 2012).