The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane Personal Life Professional Life loved playing soldier as a child attended a military high school Professional Life first novel- Maggie: A Girl of the Streets funded the publication himself wrote The Red Badge of Courage for “broad economic appeal” wrote novel at age 23 did not have any first-hand military experience influenced by personal stories & photographs worked as a war correspondent after novel’s publication

The Red Badge of Courage Historical Context presented a view of the Civil War through the eyes of an ordinary man. not a “romantic….. glowing story” Setting Assumed to be the Battle of Chancellorsville Literary Context Crane uses Impressionism Artistic technique to capture a brief, immediate impression Crane was a Naturalist Realistic portrayal of persons or things In the novel, Crane presents humans as animals engaged in the brutally endless struggle for survival. Literary Elements Limited 3rd person omniscient narrator Amoral- tells the story as it happens, non-judgmental

Dialect Dialogue Dynamic Character Static Character Conflict limited in that the narrator uses the protagonist’s view to tell story Omniscient in that he knows “all” related to the story Dialect Spoken language peculiar to a region or social group Dialogue The passages of talk in a story (between characters) Dynamic Character Changes throughout the story (also called “round characters”) Static Character A “flat character” does not change Conflict External- problems occurring external to the character Internal- psychological problems occurring within the character

Plot Setting Situational Irony Dramatic Irony Verbal Irony “ story of one person’s struggle to make sense of a world in which his expectations have been shattered.” Setting Two days in the life of the protagonist Chancellorsville Battle Situational Irony When there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what is appropriate to happen, and what really does happen Dramatic Irony When a character thinks one thing is true, and the audience or readers know better Verbal Irony When someone says one thing but really means something else

Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage   Realism- the battle scenes, descriptions of the dead and dying, the soldier’s reactions are graphically presented. Use of dialect- uses words that would have been used by people then. “Derned” and “shucks” were considered profane. Focus on personality development and the exploration of the inner self confronted with moral choices. Naturalism- presents humans as animals engaged in the brutally endless struggle for survival. Ex.- when faced with battle, Henry’s first instinct is to run.

Symbolism- COLOR Red and black = fear, death, violence, danger Blue = purity, rest, strength Green, brown, yellow, gray = foreboding, frightening White = mysterious, religious Silver, gold, purple = hope and triumph

The nature of human existence Themes in RBOC The nature of human existence frequent comparison of humans to animals dehumanizes them. Survivors tend to be those who surrender to instinct.   The value of the individual one must find his own value. Ex.- Henry reinvents himself after his desertion, yet the general still sees him as important as a broom. The capacity to change not can people change, but why the change