Red_Badge_of_Courage

A Pilgrimage of Defiance Stephen Crane is the quintessential American pilgrim of literature. In the manner of the European settlers who contested the ways of their homelands and journeyed to build new foundations for their futures, Crane challenged tradition and built a visionary framework not for his own future, but for that of all humanity. Romanticism, the movement inspired by classical individualism and idealism, was imported from Europe in the earliest days of the nineteenth century and quickly became the most influential philosophy in American culture. Even the harsh brutality of the Civil War could not entirely displace the people’s belief in the natural goodness of man and power of the individual, but in the time to follow an author tempered by misery would write to expose its fallacies. Disillusioned with his orthodox religious upbringing and determined to test the validity of Romantic belief, author Stephen Crane employs universal themes and a detached writing style to unseat conventional faith in human transcendence in his naturalist work, The Red Badge of Courage. Raised in a strict household under devout parents, Crane soon came to mistrust the religious doctrine with which he was instructed and turned away, searching both internally and externally to discern the answers to life that society and its values could not provide for him. In order to understand how Crane wrote a novel as deviant and iconoclastic as The Red Badge of Courage, it is necessary to know something of his experiences and personality. Crane was the fourteenth child of a Methodist preacher and a founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. His education was a traditionally orthodox one, focusing on religious text and the literature of the Romantic era. Independent from an early age, “Crane’s reaction to being a preacher’s child included cultivating the vices of card-playing, dancing, drinking and smoking- all of which his father had condemned” (Dooley 1). Defying all convention, he would live with a woman who operated a brothel in Florida and testify for a prostitute arrested by corrupt policemen in New York. Though he never saw a battle before writing The Red Badge of Courage, he would later occupy himself as a reckless war correspondent in foreign countries whose daringly inquisitive coverage would nearly end his life several times (Willa 6). It is mysterious then, how at the age of twenty-one with no war experience and only a history of recklessness behind him, Crane was able to convey such keen insight and satire in the novel. Some critics argue he simply held acute disdain for tradition and society because he felt suffocated from the pressures put on him by his traditionalist parents (Beaver 4). Others suggest his beliefs stem from a loss of faith, as the gloomy world of his childhood could not satisfy the idyllic claims of the literature of his education (Willa 15). Yet the complexity and clearness he demonstrates in his writing suggests some experience deeper then a mere loss of faith or impatience with the doctrine he deemed incompetent. Crane died before seeing his twenty-ninth birthday, having finally lost his battle against the exhausting ailments which had plagued him since childhood. An early sense of his own mortality, coupled with the deaths of his father and sister when he was nine and thirteen, gave him a familiarity with death none should have to experience. Crane’s callous nature was a direct consequence of this misfortune, but beneath his external façade of indifference there existed a disquieting fear for a future he could not know and could not control; paralleled in the quest of self-discovery and fear the protagonist Henry experiences in The Red Badge of Courage. Truly contrary to the Romantic tradition of his time, the tragic but unique circumstances of Crane’s short life yielded to him a focused understanding of the realities of life, ultimately the naturalist philosophies he conveys in the novel. Crane’s unfamiliarity with warfare prior to writing The Red Badge of Courage indicates that his interest in its creation was founded in his desire to examine the validity of individualism and civilization in an environment free from conventional morality- the battlefield. Crane found inspiration for his idea in the controversial recent works of biologist Charles Darwin. Darwin’s theories focused on the concept of a perpetual species struggle, perfect for the idealess combat Crane wished to portray, “for the Darwinian metaphor, red in tooth and claw, had been miraculously turned inside out on that battlefield to become a scenario for this naturalist… Here Crane could study the human condition, in all its turbulence, with the most exacting details of historical research” (Beaver 67). The principles of Darwinism had already brought into question the foundations of traditional moral and religious authority and were even used to explain trends outside of biology, profoundly influencing Crane in his attack on traditionalist Romanticism (Gibson 4). It is in the context of this Darwinian struggle that Crane reveals the hatred and fear inspired by human war to be no more refined or elevated then that of the lowest inhabitants of the earth. While the doctrine of individualism claimed man was an enlightened, civilized being, Crane exposed humanity as quite capable of reducing itself to a primitive state beneath the values of its perceived superior society. Driven by the same primordial instincts as all living creatures, “Man is out of control… far from reason or courage, it is illusion and impulse, again and again, that twitches and throws us” (Beaver 71). In an effort to promote a clearer human understanding of concepts shrouded in the vague optimism of Romanticism, Crane utilizes naturalist themes in The Red Badge of Courage to emphasize the inapplicability of traditional concepts in a world confused after the dark struggles of the Civil War. Crane’s naturalistic view on the nature of valor deviated significantly from that of his predecessors. The war novels of the Romantic era disguised the face of battle by focusing on vast visionary clashes and the valor of soldiers’ struggle. This elevated perception of courage was one Crane sought to ground, encouraging readers to evaluate human conditions in a more realistic way (Royal 2). This intent is expressed in the novel through Henry Fleming, whose quest for a heroic struggle of bravery is grounded as the reality of war makes him “feel that in this crisis his laws of life were useless. Whatever he had learned of himself was here of no avail… he resolved to remain close upon his guard lest those qualities of which he knew nothing should everlastingly disgrace him” (Crane 8). Henry had until this point held a firm conviction in his beliefs, founded on those of tradition: that war serves as an opportunity to prove oneself and establish manhood, courage and honor. Crane intends for the beginning of the novel to represent a fantasy where such beliefs may exist: Henry joins the military seeking glory and is treated accordingly as a hero by the aged and an idol by the young. However, put to the test when faced with the actual threat of battle, Henry dismisses such unsubstantial beliefs and ultimately exposes their superficiality. Individualism and humanism, two concepts endorsed by Romanticists as “promoting humans to achieve their greatest potential”, are revealed by Crane to be little more than expedient veils for selfishness and conceit (Campbell, American Romanticism). Although his faith in Romantic ideals fails to support him in battle and he flees, Henry finds himself ashamed and looks to them for justification in his action. He convinces himself that “he, the enlightened man, had fled because of his superior perceptions and knowledge… they [his comrades] were fools” (Crane 44). Hence Romantic concepts again prove unable to withstand the realities of the world as the justification and support Henry seeks from them degenerates to brittle, egocentric self-pity and bitter accusation (Royal 2). Maturity in the novel requires neither age nor experience to be attained, but rather a conscious rejection of Romantic concepts and consequently a clear and pragmatic worldview. Mere experience is shown to be insufficient in giving men the quiet self-assurance of the mature as “veteran regiments… began to jeer at the frightened privates. With the passionate song of bullets were mingled loud cat calls and bits of facetious advice” (Crane 29). Crane’s model development of maturity is charted in Henry’s dynamic character change from the beginning to the end of the novel. Henry’s early character is defined by naivety and self absorption, as he “despaired of witnessing a Greeklike struggle” and lamented that “such would be no more… men were better, or more timid. Secular and religious education had effaced the throat-grappling instinct, or else firm finance held in check the passions” (Crane 3). He holds the naïve belief that human peace is suppressing the positive energy of man and preventing him from satisfying his Romantic desire to attain glory and define himself in battle. However as the novel progresses and the authenticity of Romantic concepts is systematically disproved, Henry “has his eyes opened to some new ways. He found that he could look back upon the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels and see them truly. He was gleeful when he discovered he now despised them… He was a man” (Crane 127). This development is significant as Crane specifically identifies the origin of Henry’s misguidedness as “the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels” and his growth a product of denouncing them (Willa 78). It is this manner of acute rebuttal which makes the theme of maturity important in strengthening Crane’s criticism of the Romantic philosophy. The cool detachment Crane exhibits in the representation of characters and events in The Red Badge of Courage is implemented as an embodiment of the universe’s own indifference towards mankind. This style signifies another break from the war novels of tradition; Crane replaces the dauntless Romantic hero with a scared, isolated, and petty private and the sweep of an ideological clash on a glorious battlefield with the insecure reflections of this private and a wood littered with the corpses of anonymous men. Rather than display characters who empower themselves through the tenets of individualism, Crane presents relative boys helpless against circumstance, exemplified as Henry witnesses Jim’s death and expresses “an expression of every agony he had imagined for his friend… he turned, with sudden, livid rage, toward the battlefield. He shook his fist. The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer” (Crane 56). Crane offers little pity to his characters, as exemplified in his ironic final statement, deliberately isolated to mock Henry’s futile exasperation. Crane would express this same view in his later work, The Open Boat; that “when it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples” (Campbell, Naturalism in American Literature). The conventional school of thought in Crane’s time held a “belief in the perfectibility of man… the spiritual force immanent not only in nature but in the mind of man” (Campbell, American Romanticism). Utilizing a detached writing style, Crane exposes the naivety and arrogance of such a belief founded on the idea that the world should be obliged to share humanity’s conviction of its own importance (Campbell, Naturalism in American Literature). Following its publication, The Red Badge of Courage had a limited social impact, leading the public to question the validity of strict conventional traditions and exerting a significant influence on writing styles of the twentieth century. Circulated in a time when the beliefs it criticized still held authority, the novel’s controversial subject matter and themes evoked a strong response from readers and within six months “everyone who had the least pretension of modern letters not only knew who he was but… had an opinion of some kind about the man and his work”(Gibson 8). It accompanied other important controversial works such as Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in hastening the decline of Romanticism and conventional faith in the moral and spiritual foundations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While most critics of the day agreed that The Red Badge of Courage was a “most remarkable work of originality and modernity”, in retrospect its uniqueness and complexity may have limited its impact in a time still too conservative to fully appreciate its themes (Gibson 12). “We lacked the understanding, the knowledge… the method, indeed, necessary to deal with the issues raised by Crane’s work” (Gibson 13). Controversial for some time and then relatively unheeded for a decade, The Red Badge of Courage saw a resurgence in critical evaluation in the midst of the First World War when the themes and experiences portrayed in the novel reflected those of American soldiers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. It was amongst this generation of authors, writing in the post-World War age of modernism, that Crane’s revolutionary thought could be better understood. The naturalist themes present in works such as Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms bear striking resemblance to those of The Red Badge of Courage (Gibson 14). The twentieth century modernist and post-modernist literature movements shared with Crane’s early naturalism the fundamental rejection of Romanticism and critical examination of accepted moral standards and values. As the first novel of its kind, The Red Badge of Courage inspired the conventional criticism present in its twentieth century successors and propelled Crane’s revolutionary views into a time when they could be examined and understood more thoroughly. The end of the nineteenth century was an age of uncertainty; a generation seeking answers after the unprecedented scope and brutality of the Civil War. New ideas challenged the moral and spiritual foundations of tradition, and the stability the public had been familiar with for so long received a rude awakening. This was the world Stephen Crane entered, and in his uniquely stoical way he challenged the public back, imploring them to study the designs before them and make an educated decision on how to shape their futures (Dooley 2). Equipped with the bitter circumstance of his childhood and an independent spirit, Crane set out to disprove the deception of individualism and pave the way for this enlightenment in The Red Badge of Courage, “a product both of its time and ahead of its time”(Gibson 1). It presented concepts both strangely familiar and controversially revolutionary. It disputed the authority of the past while qualifying that of the future. The Red Badge of Courage is not the antiquated work of a dissimilar time with dissimilar problems. With the advance of communication and community globalization, people face more controversial ideas today then ever before. Stephen Crane’s challenge did not expire with the death of a man or the end of an era; rather he continues to ask readers not for absolute faith in his beliefs or directives, but merely to have the courage to undertake their own pilgrimage and find a place they can consolidate hope for a better future. Works Cited Beaver, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations: the Red Badge of Courage. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Campbell, Donna M. "American Romanticism." Literary Movements. 22 Aug. 2003. Gonzaga University. 28 Apr. 2008 . Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature." Literary Movements. 06 Nov. 2007. Washington State University. 28 Apr. 2008 . Cather, Willa. Stephen Crane: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Maurice Bassan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1967. Crane, Stephen. The Red New York: Bantam Dell, 1895. Badge of Courage. Dooley, Patrick K. "The Humanism of Stephen Crane." The Humanist 56.1: 14. Proquest Learning: Literature. NVHS Main Campus, Naperville. 28 Apr. 2008. Keyword: Stephen Crane. Gibson, Donald B. The Red Badge of Courage: Redefining the Hero. Boston: Twayne, 1988. Royal, Derek P. "Naturalism." Survey of American Literature II. Texas A&M University. 18 Apr. 2008 .