1. The Red Badge of Courage
Stephen Crane

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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