A Critique Of Stephen Cranes Use Of Symbolism In Red...

(A critique of Stephen Crane’s use of symbolism in Red Badge of Courage and An Episode of War) A tortured man who wrote beautifully tortured tales, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote in his one and only novel, â€Å"...words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality†. No writer creates reality better than Stephen Crane (1871 -1900). Crane is greatly commended for his naturalistic style of writing, which has the goal of writing the most realistic representation of events with the least bias voice. Crane’s novel Red Badge of Courage (Red Badge) is revered for depicting the battles of the American Civil War; however, he never experienced the scene of the battle lines. Crane traveled around the country to interview the†¦show more content†¦No only is the arm useless, but he holds it like glass. As the battle rages around him, the lieutenant so solely focused on his arm, and he is shocked to see elements of the battle he never seen b efore. The lieutenant’s conscious is thrown out of the moment of battle, thus the lieutenant is now suddenly an observer of the battle raging around him. Patrick Kiaran Dooley, a professor at St. Bonaventure University, comments, â€Å"A judicious, competent, and experienced combat veteran is shocked by his own ignorance of the reality of war†. This isn’t the lieutenant’s first battle, however, he discovers the large picture of events rather than prioritizing his own struggle. In Red Badge of Courage a soldier’s wound, a red badge, symbolizes honor and courage. Crane has a habit of making symbols in his writings difficult to spot and interpret. For example, the wound Henry receives is an obvious symbol, but it is hard to decipher what it means by reading it. Henry doesn’t suffer his wound in the midst of battle, rather a soldier out of his mind with fear clobbers Henry s head with the butt of his gun. Crane illustrates, â€Å"The youth... f inally clutched a man by the arm... He was heaving and panting, He still grasped his rifle... He adroitly and fiercely swung his rifle. It crushed upon the youth’s head. The man ran on†(pages 79-80 lines 28-36, 1-3). In the Civil War, if an individual was injured it was highly probable that the