The Red Badge of Courage - Analysis

Realism was a style of writing that became prominent after the Civil War, in the period of 1865 to the mid 1890's (Barney). Realism writing has the distinct characteristic that it depicts events in time as they literally happened, not as an author wanted them to happen (Werlock). Realist writers experimented with setting, points of view and symbols to create stories that accurately described the world they were living in (Werlock). While the object of realist writers was to depict the world around them in a very accurate way, they wrote about events through their perspective of them, not purposely changing details but writing them from their influence (Maunder). A famous realism writer was Stephen Crane, who wrote The Red Badge of Courage. The story depicts a specific Civil War battle, even though it was never named, and is told from the perspective of Henry Fleming, a Union Soldier (Smith). As he entered the war, he soon realized that it was not as glamorous as the stories that he had read (Smith). The Red Badge of Courage is an example of Realism writing for many reasons. The author wrote the story from the view point of Henry Fleming, who discovered the hardships of the war. Realist writers wrote about the world around them with only their own influence, which was prominent through out this story. To some, the novel can be seen as the story of a boy becoming a man through out the war experience (Hafer). Perspective is a large part of realism writing which is why this story is filled with irony. The badge that Henry received was not a badge of courage, but a badge of shame that he received after being struck by one of his own comrades in battle (Hafer). Henry also only depicts courageous acts when he is not feeling well. He only stays in battle when he isn't completely aware of his surroundings, which shows that he really isn't a courageous person. Realism writing is only seen through the eyes of the beholder, and while realism writing is supposed to depict life events in an unbiased way, The Red Badge of Courage can be read from a very different point of view.




Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "realism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0738&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 27, 2012).


Maunder, Andrew. "realism." Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS456&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 27, 2012).


Smith, Joyce. "The Red Badge of Courage." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ETL0268&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 27, 2012).


Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 27, 2012).