Author Bio
Stephen Crane is the author of the novel, The Red Badge of Courage. He was born on 1 November 1871 in Newark, NJ, the last of fourteen children. His parents were both strong Methodists, and his father became a Methodist priest in Port Jervis, NY when Crane was seven years old. He was enrolled in school in 1878. Sadly, his father died of heart problems when Stephen Crane was only nine years old. Three years later, he and his mother, along with the rest of the family, moved to the town of Asbury Park, on the New Jersey coast. In 1885, his mother enrolled him in a Methodist school called Pennington Seminary because she wanted him to be immersed in Methodist ways. Furthermore, Crane wrote his first story in 1895 as well. It was titled, "Uncle Jake and the Bell-Handle." It was also at this point that Crane became interested in the battles of the Civil War and decided to pursue a career in the United States Army. Accordingly, three years later in January 1888, Crane enrolled in the Hudson River Institute, which was a semi-military school in upstate New York. At this point, he was working as a gossip reporter for the Tribune, where his brother worked, and his reports appeared in the column of the Tribune (based in New York) titled "On the Jersey Coast." In 1890, Crane's first signed publication, an essay on Sir Henry Morgan Stanley's expedition in Africa appeared in the school magazine of the Hudson River Institute. In September of 1890, Crane enrolled at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania in order to pursue a career in mining engineering, which he deemed to be a more practical career than the military. However, he did not do well in his studies there, failing a course in theme writing. One semester after his enrollment there, he dropped out. Meanwhile, the writing of Rudyard Kipling, specifically the story The Light that Failed, inspired Crane to develop his own writing style. In 1891, Crane's mother was determined to get him a good education. She enrolled him in the Scientific Course at Syracuse University, a strict Methodist school. He continued to write for the newspaper where his brother worked--the Tribune--and published a story called, "The King's Favor." In June of 1891, Crane withdrew from Syracuse University to become a part-time reporter for the Tribune. In July of 1892, Stephen Crane got five of his anecdotes about camping and fishing trips he took published in the Tribune. However, he was fired from his job at the newspaper company when a report he wrote about a march of workers in Asbury Park, the town in which he lived for a time during his childhood, embarrassed the newspaper's owner, Whitelaw Reid, who was running for the office of U.S. Vice President. In the autumn of 1892, Crane moved to New York to work for a different newspaper company, the Herald. Also in 1892, Crane began to write a novel titled Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. In 1893, the novel was published, and Crane personally payed for its publication. When publishing this novel, Crane used the pen name of Johnston Smith. Although it was not successful, this novel was very important to Crane's life, because it caught the attention of two writers, Hamlin Garland and William Dean Howells, both of whom he befriended. In February of 1893, Crane began to write The Red Badge of Courage. In late February, 1894, Crane and a friend of his decided to stand in a soup line, dress in rags, and spend a night in a homeless shelter. These experiences influenced some of Crane's later writings. Furthermore, a shortened version of The Red Badge of Courage was published in several newspapers, including the Philadelphia Press. In 1896, The Red Badge of Courage received praise from critics. Both Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells gave Crane recognition. Furthermore, the short story "The Veteran," which features Henry Fleming, the main character of The Red Badge of Courage as an old man, was published. In November, Crane went to Jacksonville, Florida, in order to find a ship that would pass through the blockade of Cuba. He did this because, at that time, he was a news reporter covering the Cuban revolt against Spain. He found a ship, the Commodore, that was willing to do this. During his stay in Jacksonville, he met Cora Stewart, with whom he would have a long-lasting relationship. On 1 January 1897, Crane embarked for his journey to Cuba on the Commodore, which sank the next day. Some people from the ship, including Crane, got on a small lifeboat. On 3 January, the lifeboat reached the eastern coast of Florida. Four days later, Crane wrote and published an account of the sinking for the newspaper. While he was recovering from his experiences, he wrote the story, "The Open Boat," which is a fictional short story based on his experiences in the lifeboat. Later in the year, he and Cora moved to Britain where he was welcomed into the literary circle there. In 1898, the U.S.A. declared war on Spain (beginning the Spanish-American War). Crane went to New York to be a war correspondent for the World, a newspaper. In January 1899, Crane went back to England and moved with Cora Stewart to a very old mansion in Sussex. Later in the year, Crane was diagnosed with tuberculosis. By December, he had severe hemorrhaging in his lungs. Even though his health was in such poor condition, he continued to work on some of his short stories. In 1900 in Badenweiler, Germany, he collapsed with tuberculosis. His wife checked him in to a sanitarium there, where he died on 5 June, 1900 at age 28. After Crane's death, some of his short stories were published, and several writers worked to create collections and anthologies of his work. Crane's work during his life, along with the anthologies and collections done by those posthumously honoring him have earned him a place of honor in the progress of American literature.
Source: I obtained the information to write this author bio from the time line in the beginning of the Barnes and Noble Classics Edition of The Red Badge of Courage. Link to information on the book at Barnes and Noble's Website
Formal Source Citation-- (MLA Style): Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Short Fiction (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics). New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Print.
For a biography of Stephen Crane that I did not use as a source, Click on this Link
Plot Synopsis
The novel The Red Badge of Courage is set in the American Civil War. Specifically, the story is based in the Battle of Chancellorsville in April 1863. At the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to a Union regiment camped on a hill. They are anxiously waiting to go in to battle, and they have been camped there for quite a time. The three main characters, to whom the reader is introduced early in the story, are Henry Fleming ("The Youth", "The Youthful Soldier"), Jim Conklin ("The Tall Soldier"), and Wilson ("The Loud Soldier","His [Fleming's] Friend"). The tall soldier had received a report that the army may be moving the next day, but most of the others in the regiment do not think that he is telling the truth. However, a few days later, the regiment moves into battle. During that day, the youth gets his first taste of battle. However, during the next skirmish between the two armies, the youth deserts and runs into the woods. However, the regiment held off the Confederates. Realizing his foolishness and the fact that he is lost in the woods, he decides that he does not want to hide in the woods. Thus, he joins a group of wounded soldiers marching out of the battlefield. When there, he meets the tattered soldier. Later on in the march, he encounters a severely wounded Jim Conklin. Conklin soon ends up dying in a field. Soon, the youth abandons the marching wounded soldiers and joins up with another regiment to fight. However, the battle goes badly for that regiment, and many, including the youth, end up retreating from the battle. When he tries to ask a running Union soldier for directions, the soldier ends up clubbing him with the stock of his rifle, leaving a nasty wound on the youth's forehead. Soon, the youth encounters a friendly soldier who helps direct him back to his own regiment. His own regiment, seeing the wound from the butt of the gun, thinks that the youth has gotten a wound (a slang term for a wound was a "red badge of courage") in battle and accepted him back into the ranks. Soon, the troops move out again to fight a formidable Confederate division determined to break through the Union line or die trying...
Literary Information
Length of Novel: 130 pages
The novel, The Red Badge of Courage, is a historical fiction novel.
It was written in the style of American Naturalism.
The mood of the story is rather miserable and helpless. The miserableness is shown through the descriptions of the horrible conditions in the battle, and especially through this line, yelled by one unnamed soldier: "'Whoop-a-dadee,' said a man,"here we are! Everybody fightin'. Blood an' destruction." (91) The mood of helplessness is conveyed through the fact that all of the soldiers are being controlled by some generals far from the front lines who do not know what it is like up there. Throughout the story, the Union generals often make poor decisions that greatly impact the battle on the front lines. The author does a very effective job of showing the fact that the individual front-line soldier is nothing but a pawn in the generals' game of chess, and nothing but a statistic and a part of a unit in the eyes of the command.
The story is told from a third-person perspective that follows the main character, the youth, Henry Fleming. The perspective is limited, because the narrator does not know or mention the inner thoughts of other soldiers. Also, the narrator does not really name any of the characters in the story; it is up to the reader to figure out their names based on character interactions.
Literary Analysis
The author of The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane, used various literary techniques to make the story effective. One such technique he uses is imagery. This is probably the most heavily used of the literary techniques seen in the story. It is used throughout the story to help the reader easily relate to the setting and battle conditions in the story. Crane's use of imagery is apparent even at the beginning. The story begins with some powerful imagery: "The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors," (3). Later on, imagery is used to describe the conditions in which Fleming fought a battle later in the novel. The passage reads: "The flames bit him, and the hot smoke broiled his skin. His rifle barrel grew so hot that ordinarily he could not have borne it on his palms; but he kept on stuffing cartridges into it, and pounding them with his clanking, bending ramrod. If he aimed at some charging form through the smoke, he pulled his trigger with a fierce grunt, as if he were dealing a blow of the fist with all his strength," (95). In addition, imagery is used at the end of the story to show a decline in the intensity of the plot, and to give a feeling of resolution. The imagery reads: "...images of tranquil skies, fresh meadows, cool brooks--an existence of soft, eternal peace. Over the river a golden ray of sun came through the hosts of leaden rain clouds," (130).
The diction used in the dialogue of characters in the story is rather informal. The characters often use slang terms of the day. An example of Civil-War-era slang in the novel is: "'He's a jimhickey,' an' the colonel, he ses..." (116). In addition, the book was written in a way that shows the accent the characters are using. One example of this in the story is demonstrated in a vent of disapproval made by a lieutenant in the story: "All you've got t' do is fight, an' you'll get plenty 'a that t' do in about ten minutes," (92). As can be observed by the reader, the diction is used to enhance the feeling of the story, and it allows the reader to better picture what the characters are like and sound like when they speak.
In addition to imagery and diction, the author also uses symbolism and personification to make the story effective. The narrator often symbolizes and personifies the enemy lines and ranks to be dragons, to provide the image that they are formidable and move together as a whole in a snakelike fashion. Another symbol used in the book is (THIS MAY BE A SPOILER!!!) the rain at the end of the story. Throughout the story, it is dry, hot, and altogether unpleasant weather. The troops are often dehydrated from the conditions and the battle, and the rain symbolizes peace and renewal at the end of the battle. A third symbol used in the story that also carries irony with it is the battle wound, or the "red badge of courage." If one had a wound, then it could be interpreted that they did something courageous for their nation. However, the youth, Fleming got his "red badge of courage" through an act of cowardice: desertion. This symbol is important because the symbolism of the battle wound is not only seen by the reader, but also by the other characters in the book. When Fleming returns to the regiment, the people there think that he did something courageous because of his wound. They see the symbolism, and it is so strong to them that they fail to see the other signs, which point to desertion.
Criticism
Overall, I think that this book was well written and effective at conveying the intended images and feelings to the reader. It also seemed to flow well from chapter to chapter. However, I think that the novel would have been more effective if the author had not omitted the original Chapter 12. According to the editor's endnotes in the book, the original twelfth chapter that Crane wrote was omitted by him in the final published copy of the book. Even though the flow of the story still makes sense between the published chapters 11 and 12, I think that it would have flowed even better with more clarification. At the end of the 11th chapter, Fleming is looking for his regiment, and he asks someone for directions. He finally gets someone who knows where his regiment is, so he bids farewell to his helpful comrade. At the beginning of Chapter 12, he has already arrived just outside his regiment's camp. There is no mention of his journey to find his regiment. Also, there is a loose end at the end of Chapter 11 that does not get tied up. Earlier in Chapter 11, Fleming gets hit by a man's rifle stock (see "Plot Synopsis" section), and he feels faint but is determined to go on. I would imagine that he fainted during the original Chapter 12, because there is no mention of him fainting in the published version. That seems to be a hole in the plot that the authors and editors accidentally glossed over. Aside from that inconsistency and slight lack of flow, the story moves along very well. The plot stays intriguing, and Fleming always seems to be doing something in the plot. There are no real lulls in the action of the story after the beginning, and the intensity of the story builds up well throughout. Furthermore, Fleming's internal conflict between going back to the regiment or not drives the story through the part where he is lost.
If you liked The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, then consider reading:
NOTE: Center-click to open a link in a new tab
The Veteran, a short story by Stephen Crane- Read It Online
The Little Regiment, a short story by Stephen Crane- Read It Online
The Red Badge of CourageStephen Crane
Source: I obtained the information to write this author bio from the time line in the beginning of the Barnes and Noble Classics Edition of The Red Badge of Courage. Link to information on the book at Barnes and Noble's Website
Formal Source Citation-- (MLA Style): Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Short Fiction (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics). New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. Print.
For a biography of Stephen Crane that I did not use as a source, Click on this Link
Plot Synopsis
The novel The Red Badge of Courage is set in the American Civil War. Specifically, the story is based in the Battle of Chancellorsville in April 1863. At the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to a Union regiment camped on a hill. They are anxiously waiting to go in to battle, and they have been camped there for quite a time. The three main characters, to whom the reader is introduced early in the story, are Henry Fleming ("The Youth", "The Youthful Soldier"), Jim Conklin ("The Tall Soldier"), and Wilson ("The Loud Soldier","His [Fleming's] Friend"). The tall soldier had received a report that the army may be moving the next day, but most of the others in the regiment do not think that he is telling the truth. However, a few days later, the regiment moves into battle. During that day, the youth gets his first taste of battle. However, during the next skirmish between the two armies, the youth deserts and runs into the woods. However, the regiment held off the Confederates. Realizing his foolishness and the fact that he is lost in the woods, he decides that he does not want to hide in the woods. Thus, he joins a group of wounded soldiers marching out of the battlefield. When there, he meets the tattered soldier. Later on in the march, he encounters a severely wounded Jim Conklin. Conklin soon ends up dying in a field. Soon, the youth abandons the marching wounded soldiers and joins up with another regiment to fight. However, the battle goes badly for that regiment, and many, including the youth, end up retreating from the battle. When he tries to ask a running Union soldier for directions, the soldier ends up clubbing him with the stock of his rifle, leaving a nasty wound on the youth's forehead. Soon, the youth encounters a friendly soldier who helps direct him back to his own regiment. His own regiment, seeing the wound from the butt of the gun, thinks that the youth has gotten a wound (a slang term for a wound was a "red badge of courage") in battle and accepted him back into the ranks. Soon, the troops move out again to fight a formidable Confederate division determined to break through the Union line or die trying...Literary Information
- Length of Novel: 130 pages
The novel, The Red Badge of Courage, is a historical fiction novel.It was written in the style of American Naturalism.
The mood of the story is rather miserable and helpless. The miserableness is shown through the descriptions of the horrible conditions in the battle, and especially through this line, yelled by one unnamed soldier: "'Whoop-a-dadee,' said a man,"here we are! Everybody fightin'. Blood an' destruction." (91) The mood of helplessness is conveyed through the fact that all of the soldiers are being controlled by some generals far from the front lines who do not know what it is like up there. Throughout the story, the Union generals often make poor decisions that greatly impact the battle on the front lines. The author does a very effective job of showing the fact that the individual front-line soldier is nothing but a pawn in the generals' game of chess, and nothing but a statistic and a part of a unit in the eyes of the command.
The story is told from a third-person perspective that follows the main character, the youth, Henry Fleming. The perspective is limited, because the narrator does not know or mention the inner thoughts of other soldiers. Also, the narrator does not really name any of the characters in the story; it is up to the reader to figure out their names based on character interactions.
Literary Analysis
The author of The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane, used various literary techniques to make the story effective. One such technique he uses is imagery. This is probably the most heavily used of the literary techniques seen in the story. It is used throughout the story to help the reader easily relate to the setting and battle conditions in the story. Crane's use of imagery is apparent even at the beginning. The story begins with some powerful imagery: "The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors," (3). Later on, imagery is used to describe the conditions in which Fleming fought a battle later in the novel. The passage reads: "The flames bit him, and the hot smoke broiled his skin. His rifle barrel grew so hot that ordinarily he could not have borne it on his palms; but he kept on stuffing cartridges into it, and pounding them with his clanking, bending ramrod. If he aimed at some charging form through the smoke, he pulled his trigger with a fierce grunt, as if he were dealing a blow of the fist with all his strength," (95). In addition, imagery is used at the end of the story to show a decline in the intensity of the plot, and to give a feeling of resolution. The imagery reads: "...images of tranquil skies, fresh meadows, cool brooks--an existence of soft, eternal peace. Over the river a golden ray of sun came through the hosts of leaden rain clouds," (130).The diction used in the dialogue of characters in the story is rather informal. The characters often use slang terms of the day. An example of Civil-War-era slang in the novel is: "'He's a jimhickey,' an' the colonel, he ses..." (116). In addition, the book was written in a way that shows the accent the characters are using. One example of this in the story is demonstrated in a vent of disapproval made by a lieutenant in the story: "All you've got t' do is fight, an' you'll get plenty 'a that t' do in about ten minutes," (92). As can be observed by the reader, the diction is used to enhance the feeling of the story, and it allows the reader to better picture what the characters are like and sound like when they speak.
In addition to imagery and diction, the author also uses symbolism and personification to make the story effective. The narrator often symbolizes and personifies the enemy lines and ranks to be dragons, to provide the image that they are formidable and move together as a whole in a snakelike fashion. Another symbol used in the book is (THIS MAY BE A SPOILER!!!) the rain at the end of the story. Throughout the story, it is dry, hot, and altogether unpleasant weather. The troops are often dehydrated from the conditions and the battle, and the rain symbolizes peace and renewal at the end of the battle. A third symbol used in the story that also carries irony with it is the battle wound, or the "red badge of courage." If one had a wound, then it could be interpreted that they did something courageous for their nation. However, the youth, Fleming got his "red badge of courage" through an act of cowardice: desertion. This symbol is important because the symbolism of the battle wound is not only seen by the reader, but also by the other characters in the book. When Fleming returns to the regiment, the people there think that he did something courageous because of his wound. They see the symbolism, and it is so strong to them that they fail to see the other signs, which point to desertion.
Criticism
Overall, I think that this book was well written and effective at conveying the intended images and feelings to the reader. It also seemed to flow well from chapter to chapter. However, I think that the novel would have been more effective if the author had not omitted the original Chapter 12. According to the editor's endnotes in the book, the original twelfth chapter that Crane wrote was omitted by him in the final published copy of the book. Even though the flow of the story still makes sense between the published chapters 11 and 12, I think that it would have flowed even better with more clarification. At the end of the 11th chapter, Fleming is looking for his regiment, and he asks someone for directions. He finally gets someone who knows where his regiment is, so he bids farewell to his helpful comrade. At the beginning of Chapter 12, he has already arrived just outside his regiment's camp. There is no mention of his journey to find his regiment. Also, there is a loose end at the end of Chapter 11 that does not get tied up. Earlier in Chapter 11, Fleming gets hit by a man's rifle stock (see "Plot Synopsis" section), and he feels faint but is determined to go on. I would imagine that he fainted during the original Chapter 12, because there is no mention of him fainting in the published version. That seems to be a hole in the plot that the authors and editors accidentally glossed over. Aside from that inconsistency and slight lack of flow, the story moves along very well. The plot stays intriguing, and Fleming always seems to be doing something in the plot. There are no real lulls in the action of the story after the beginning, and the intensity of the story builds up well throughout. Furthermore, Fleming's internal conflict between going back to the regiment or not drives the story through the part where he is lost.If you liked The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, then consider reading:
NOTE: Center-click to open a link in a new tabIf you liked this, then consider reading these wiki pages: