A Critical Analysis of Literary Realism and the Dissolution of the “Civil War Generation” in The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
This critical analysis will define the validity of literary “realism” in the context of the dissolution of civil war generation in terms of the soldierly experience in The Red badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. In The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry Fleming, flees the battlefield during the Civil War, which expresses Crane’s acknowledgement of the realism of battle through cowardice and anti-heroism. Casey’s (2011) critical view of the younger generation in the 1890s (when Crane wrote the novel) defines the inferiority complex of young men that wanted their own identity, instead of one defined …show more content…
However, during his first battle, Henry realizes that the battlefield is a grim place with death and carnage, and the reality of these experiences cause him to flee the combat zone. Abandoning his fellow soldiers (living and dead) on the battlefield, Henry feels the shame and guilt of cowardice: “he thought that he wished he was dead. He believed that he envied a corpse” (Crane 46). These events dispel the heroism of the Civil War veteran as an indomitable image of American courage that was often propagandized by the elder members of the Civil War generation in the 1890s. More so, Crane’s narrative of Henry’s experience are written to specifically express the great lie of the glory of battle he had been taught in regards to those that had died foolishly in the battle: “He cried out bitterly that their crowns were stolen and their robes of glorious memories were shams” (46). In this manner, Crane is seriously undermining the heroism of Civil War veterans, which has been glorified and overestimated. However, Henry’s realistic point of view dispels these myths in a critical evaluation of the Civil War generation and the struggles of young men, such as Stephen Crane, to find their own sense of heroism in the shadows of the Civil War
This critical analysis will define the validity of literary “realism” in the context of the dissolution of civil war generation in terms of the soldierly experience in The Red badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. In The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry Fleming, flees the battlefield during the Civil War, which expresses Crane’s acknowledgement of the realism of battle through cowardice and anti-heroism. Casey’s (2011) critical view of the younger generation in the 1890s (when Crane wrote the novel) defines the inferiority complex of young men that wanted their own identity, instead of one defined …show more content…
However, during his first battle, Henry realizes that the battlefield is a grim place with death and carnage, and the reality of these experiences cause him to flee the combat zone. Abandoning his fellow soldiers (living and dead) on the battlefield, Henry feels the shame and guilt of cowardice: “he thought that he wished he was dead. He believed that he envied a corpse” (Crane 46). These events dispel the heroism of the Civil War veteran as an indomitable image of American courage that was often propagandized by the elder members of the Civil War generation in the 1890s. More so, Crane’s narrative of Henry’s experience are written to specifically express the great lie of the glory of battle he had been taught in regards to those that had died foolishly in the battle: “He cried out bitterly that their crowns were stolen and their robes of glorious memories were shams” (46). In this manner, Crane is seriously undermining the heroism of Civil War veterans, which has been glorified and overestimated. However, Henry’s realistic point of view dispels these myths in a critical evaluation of the Civil War generation and the struggles of young men, such as Stephen Crane, to find their own sense of heroism in the shadows of the Civil War