The Red Badge of Courage
Seminar Findings
Introduction:
Stephen Crane’s most popular novel was with certainty The Red Badge of Courage. It was first published in October 1895 and soon created enough enthusiasm that, after its first emergence in December 1894 – in the New York Press, the Philadelphia Press, and hundreds of other papers throughout the country – and its first publication as a complete novel, it became a best-seller. “One reason for its popularity was the novelty of a war story told from a private’s point of view” (Katz, 1969, xiv). This new kind of narrative mode, the internal perspective of Henry Fleming, provides the reader with a detailed and often brutal description of both the battle scenes as well as the commonplace and often boring routine of staying in a camp for weeks without anything happening. “Wars in earlier fiction had been fought mainly by officers, gallants, and villains, noteworthy men who moved against the background of massed troops.” (Katz, 1969, xiv). The newspaper series, however, omitted entire episodes such as the last three chapters which make the novel’s conclusion more ambiguous.
Stephen Crane became famous at the age of twenty-three. His contemporaries marvelled at his realistic and detailed descriptions of the Civil War although the author never experienced any kind of battle in his life before. “And as if to confirm for himself the authenticity of his novel, Crane rushed off to battle at the first opportunity, arousing public interest in a life that came to seem even more exciting than his fiction.” (Mitchell, Lee Clark, S. 1). Through his exotic adventures in war or love, and the occasional abuse of drugs he became something of an invented cultural figure. In both Britain and America, the book was greeted with enthusiasm and “[…] went through ten editions in its first year alone, through as many more in the next dozen, and was accorded a critical reception unusual for the work of a living writer.” (Mitchell, Lee Clark S.5). Of course, there were still people who condemned the book by believing that a writer who never experienced war could ever come up with such a story. However, these critics were rare and most of the books readers were simply startled by the effects of Crane’s prose and in particular the point of view in the book.
“ On a deeper level there may have been reasons for the novel’s popularity in Crane’s treatment of the conflict between tradition and reality that disturbed post-bellum America.” (Katz, 1969, xiv) The protagonist, Henry Fleming, expected a battle full of glory. What he found instead was boredom, filth and chaos and when it finally comes to the battle, Henry’s former fighting spirit turns into cowardice. It is only by chance that Henry receives his symbol of bravery, his “Red Badge of Courage”, which is the result of an hysterical soldier’s blow. It is ironic that out of this cowardice grows a battle madness, as Henry fights like a “wild cat” in the end.
After the success of the book, Stephen Crane experienced a tremendous increase of interest in his earlier fiction and poems which ensured him a lifelong income that no matter how big his expenses were, he would never be destitute. “Although Stephen Crane came to be known as an interpreter of slum life” (Katz, 1969, xiv), the Red Badge of Courage was his biggest success.
Purpose of this small performance is to give a funny, but never the less rich in content introduction to The Red Badge of Courage
Seminar Findings
I. Aspects of Naturalism and Impressionism in The Red Badge of Courage
II. The Book Structure and Henry Fleming’s development
III. "That was at Chancellorsville" -- Connections to the American Civil War
IV. Irony in The Red Badge of Courage
V. Figurative language and Symbolism in The Red Badge of Courage
Crane’s works embrace a wide range of literary tendencies such as naturalism, impressionism, realism, modernism and local colour. Therefore one could call Stephen Crane a literary chameleon. However, only Naturalism, Impressionism and Realism play a significant role.
1. General aspects of Naturalism
Naturalistic writers study human beings, their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the character’s lives are governed by forces of heredity and environment. George Becker invented the term “pessimistic materialistic determinism”.
Characters: Frequently ill-educated or lower class characters
Setting: Frequently an urban setting
Key Themes:
· The fight for survival -> a desperate need for self-preservation
· Nature as an indifferent force acting on the lives of human beings
· Forces of heredity and environment and how they affect lives
· Indifferent, deterministic universe -> free will as an illusion
2. Aspects of Naturalism in The Red Badge of Courage
. Survival: Henry’s desperate need of self-preservation becomes clear when he flees from the battle. He justifies his behaviour when he throws a pine cone on a squirrel and it runs away. According to Henry, every being on earth just wants to survive and he feels enlightened that he comes up with this conclusion.
· Indifference of nature: Although a gruesome and brutal battle is going on, the nature remains indifferent and goes on with her “golden process in the midst of so much devilment” (p. 226).
· Repeated use of Animal Imagery: To enhance the brutal aspects of war, inhumanity and savageness. Human actions are “dogged”, people “howl”, “squawk”, “growl” or “snarl”. The individual qualities of the soldiers are associated with animal instincts. Men who are described as cows or sheep are weak or stupid whereas men who are described as wolves or panthers are fearless and strong.
· Insignificance of the individual: Crane often brings the whole of Henry’s regiment into one being, portraying the individual as an expendable part of the whole.
3. General Aspects of Impressionism
Impressionistic literature can basically be defined as an author centering his story on the character’s mental life, such as the character’s impressions, feelings, sensations and emotions, rather than trying to interpret them.
4. Aspects of Impressionism in The Red Badge of Courage
· Point of view: Limited third person narrator whose access to data is restricted to the mind of the protagonist. His view of the battle is severely limited, unreliable and distorted. This restriction of information gives the novel its unique quality.
· Stress on sensory faculties: The reader is presented with an array of sensational skills from a scene; the colours, sounds and feelings of a given experience
· Colour and Imagery: Crane’s frequent use of colour and imagery sometimes lead to the impression of a “battle painting” (Harold Frederic)
“He threw a pine cone at a jovial squirrel, and he ran with chattering fear.[…]. The youth felt triumphant at this exhibition. There was the law, he said. Nature had given him a sign. The squirrel, immediately upon recognizing danger, had taken to his legs without ado”. (p.235)
“As he gazed around him the youth felt a flash of astonishment at the blue, pure sky and the sun gleamings on the trees and fields. It was surprising that Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of so much devilment”. (p.226)
“It was a barbarous process with no affection for the men and the oak, and no sympathy for the rabbit and the weed.”
“After a time the sound of musketry grew faint and the cannon boomed in the distance. The sun, suddenly apparent, blazed among the trees. The insects were making rhythmical noises. They seemed to be grinding their teeth in unison. A woodpecker stuck his impudent head around the side of a tree. A bird flew on lighthearted wing.“(p.234)
“The trees began softly to sing a hymn of twilight. The sun sank until slanted bronze rays struck the forest. There was a lull in the noises of insects as if they had bowed their beaks and were making a devotional pause. There was silence save for the chanted chorus of the trees.” (p.236)
1. Warm Up: How is the young Henry Fleming portrayed in the first 4 Chapters?
-HF totally immersed in his own thoughts(stage setting for HF’s mental transition)
-young, inexperienced, ambitious soldier waiting for war and glory
-but also unconfident listening to the veterans’ stories of war
-young boy thinking of his home and his mother
-CH 3&4: afraid of the unknown (rumors of the approaching battle)
→reader can identify with this well-known fear
2. What happens in Chapter 5 and does it bring a development in HF’s nature?
-HF fights his first battle, stands his ground, seems to forget his fears (222/223)
-TRANSITION from boy to MAN? No, in the next chapter HF flees from battle field (229)
3. Can You think of some examples that clearly demonstrate HF’s selfish and immature behaviour?
-fleeing from battle
-abandoning the tattered soldier
-not telling the truth about his wound
-thinking bad of Wilson (to justify his own misdeeds)
4. Think of Chapter XV, HF’s thoughts before his second battle. What has changed?
-still not a man
-does not feel ashamed
-wants to use Wilson’s letters against him in case he should ask him about the 1st battle
-thinks bad of the others who ran away, he ran “with dignity”
-regards himself as a veteran (p. 273)
-is vain, hypocrite and immature
-DESTINED TO GREAT DEEDS, limitless powers of self-delusion
-cf. Wilson: faced battle, gives him security, no longer arrogant (asks HF to give back letters)
5. The second battle (CH XVI/XVII): What is HF like?
-condescending talking about the generals
-fighting like a wild cat – unfortunately shooting into nothing, enemy fled
-regarded a war devil (284) but not aware of the process
- begins to mature, thinking he has done right
6: When does HF change?
-during the last chapters, when war is depicted in its most vivid imagery?
-HF fights, commits heroic deeds (picks up the 304th flag and helps Wilson to capture the enemy’s color)
-has found his place in life (like Wilson) and is looking forward to peace and comfort back home one day
- is not boasting with his deeds, is happy he could make it so far without being killed
-BUT: Did he really become a man or just a boy with some war experience?
7. Is HF’s development a development from a boy to a hero or from a “young fella” to a man?
-does not tell the truth until the very end
-reproaches himself for his earlier behaviour
-feels a quiet manhood within himself and imagines a world of peace and beauty
8. Book structure in general? What is striking?
-many (24) short chapters
-reader has the impression to look at series of snapshots in a photo album
-most effectively in chapters which relate to battlefield action
-highlight the interaction between soldiers and their environment
-the omniscient voice allows the reader to enter into HF’s mind and the thoughts of the other soldiers
III. That was at Chancellorsville -- Connections to the American Civil War
Questions:
What is the situation of Henry at the beginning of the book?
Where is the camp of Henry’s regiment located and what time of the year is it?
Where they in camp for a long or just a short time? Find evidence in Ch1.
Which other places are mentioned in the book especially in the early chapters?
The tall soldier spreads the rumour that the army is going to move soon (Ch1, p.190), but it stays. But one part of the army already moved. Which and where are they going to? (End of Ch1, p.199) What happens to Henry’s Regiment afterwards?
Did Crane give any clear indication about Chancellorsville during his life?
Can you think of any reasons Crane had to leave the battle unnamed?
Civil War
Why does the RBoC clearly deal with the Am. Civil War?
What do the soldiers call the Confederate army and why?
Answers:
What is the situation of Henry at the beginning of the book?
>>> he is in a military camp waiting to see some action
Where is the camp located and what time of the year is it?
>>> It is located at the bank of a river with the Confederate army on the opposite site
>>> In the very first sentence of the book we learn that it is spring (“As the landscape changed from brown to green”, p.189)
Where they in camp for a long or just a short time? Find evidence in Ch1.
>>> Corporal having put a costly board floor in his hut / “eternal camp” (p.191)
Which other places are mentioned in the book especially in the early chapters?
>>> Washinghton, Richmond, Rappahannok River
The tall soldier spreads the rumour that the army is going to move soon (Ch1, p.190), but it stays. But one part of the army already moved. Which and where are they going to? (End of Ch1, p.199) What happens to Henry’s regiment afterwards?
>>> The cavalry leaves the camp, going to Richmond
>>> Henry’s regiment stays for a few more days till it finally leaves (proof: Ch2 beginning “For days he made ceaseless calculations”, p.201)
Did Crane give any clear indication about Chancellorsville during his life?
>>> Yes. In The Veteran we find old Henry Fleming state that he fought at Chancellorsville.
Can you think of any reasons Crane had to leave the battle unnamed?
>>> Because the soldiers in fact wouldn’t have know the place they were fighting at.
>>> Anonymity is also part of Crane’s artistic technique - The story is not about historical events but about inner conflict of the individual
>>> Historical connection could have evoked reactions in the mind of the reader irrelevant to Crane’s purpose.
Civil War
Is there any evidence in the book that the RBoC does clearly deal with the Am. Civil War?
>>> Uniforms, weapons, vocabulary (“Johnnies”(p.199), “Rebel Army”, etc.),
>>> Places (Washington vs Richmond (capital of the Confederation during that time))
What do they call the Confederate army and why?
>>> ” Rebel army” - because of the secession of the Southern states
Parallels between the battle in the book and the real one of Chancellorsville
(The indications we find in the book that the battle in The Red Badge of Courage could be based on the real battle of Chancellorsville are mentioned first, followed by historical information)
1. Army spends long winter in camp - Army of the Potomac encamped in Falmouth on the north bank of the Rappahannock River opposite the Confederate army
2. Henry drilled and drilled and reviewed - Usual proceeding when new Commander arrives à General Joseph Hooker arrived as new commander in 1863 what meant long hours of drill and reviews
3. Cavalry leaves camp for Richmond - 11000 cavalrymen left Falmouth on April 13, 1863 for a raid on the Confederate Railroad lines near Richmond; Richmond was the Confederate capital at that time
4. But infantry (Henry) stays in camp “for days” - Union army at Falmouth did not leave the camp for two weeks after the cavalry departed
Finally the infantry is allowed to move at dawn (“crawling from the caverns of the night [...] the river was not in view.”) and than rests for another night - exactly fits to the march of the Second Corps which crossed the river in the evening of April 30, 1863 and then had an intervening day (May 1) camping safely near Chancellorsville
5. Jim at the end of the book “Didn’t I tell yeh we’d come aroun’ in behint ‘em?” - Precisely the strategy of Chancellorsville
We even find precise parallels between the real fights and the ones depicted in the book.
For further information see:
Harold R. Hungerford, “„That was at Chancellorsville“: The Factual Framework of The Red Badge of Courage” Critical essays on The Red Badge of Courage. Ed. unknown. n.p., n.d.
Def.:
The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
· There is plenty of irony (probably yet to be found) in the Red Badge of Courage. Here are some examples:
· In our theatre play last week we presented 2 ways of how the book could be read. Contrasting the view of Ms. Interpretation and Mr. Crane for instance: What do you think makes the difference between Ms. Interpretation’s misinterpretation, and Mr. Crane’s view of the matter? We have two different ways of how to read the story: It can be read as a war story to glorify the war, but it also can be considered a peace critical of war. In many respects this results in irony.
· Title: The red badge of courage: It is not really a badge of courage. How did he get it? At the point – when he received the “red badge” he was not yet considered a hero. Furthermore he did not receive the wound (leading to the red badge) in combat, but in a rather peculiar situation, where he feels lost and molests one of his own comerades who gives him a blow over his head with the rifle. Knowing these facts we can hardly consider the red badge as a symbol of honour and respect...
· Do you remember what Stephen Crane (SC) calls the German soldiers? Col. John L Burleigh claimed to remember his time in the army together with SC, which is impossible, because at the time of the civil war, SC was not even born. SC satirises this fact in The Red Badge of Courage by calling the disliked German soldiers burly – a phonetic pun! Such mind gaps and arguments between the Veterans about certain details led to a loss of credibility. Mark the arguments at the beginning of the story.
· Throughout the story Henry sees himself differently from the way SC sees him. (SC does not express his own thoughts, when he writes: “He thought”, “as he perceived her”) These two different points of view are often expressed through irony and at the same time create irony: Do you have an example in mind to underline this? - Even after his flight and after he learns, that “They’ve held ‘em” (Crane, 232)Henry tries to justify his deed: “He had bee overturned by their [his comrades’] lack of sense in holding the position, when deliberation would have convinced them that it was impossible. He, the enlightened man who looks afar in the dark, had fled because of his superior perceptions and knowledge”(Crane, 233)
· There is an ironic distance between experiences and reflections of Henry Fleming: This can be also recognized in the difference between the Veterans’ experiences during the civil war and the “official” veteran – memories. “Gilded image of memory”
· What is Henrys greatest concern, about his flight. It is not the fact that he abandoned his comerads and acted in a cowardly way. He actually fears that someone will discover what he did. -> lack of integrity.
· “Once a certain soldier [...]went [...] to wash a shirt. He came back [...] with a tale he heard from a reliable friend, who had heard it from a truthful cavalryman, who had heard it from a trustworthy brother, one of the orderlies at division headquarters. He adopted the important air of a herald in red and gold”(Crane,190): The exaggerated situation itself is ironic: A soldier goes to wash his shirt (“actually he developed virtues and went resolutely...”) and returns with such news. The news however seem to be everything but reliable: even though it was mentioned by reliable, truthful and trustworthy men - it still remains a forth hand information.
· At the beginning of the story some men fight about the fact of whether the army is going to move or not, and how the army is going to move: “We’re goin’ up the river, cut across, an’ come around in behint ‘em”(RBC p.191). At first sight these arguments seem ridiculous, because soldiers at this time would not have the faintest idea what the plans were, or where they were positioned at the moment. However, there is some more irony added, because at Chancellorsville this is exactly what the army did: move along the river, cut across and some men secretly stayed behind, to come in from behind.
· Related to this point is the self-perception of the soldiers as heroes, while in reality they were nothing but cannon fodder.
· Henry Fleming wants to go to war. He wants to fight. But the first thing he does is: wait and do nothing, but be drilled and again and again.
V. Figurative language and Symbolism in "The Red Badge of Courage"
I. Can you define figurative language?
> Figurative language uses "figures of speech" - a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words.
e.g. personification, simile, metaphor, assimilation
> Personification: " The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting,” (Crane, 1969: 189)
II. Throughout the whole novel Crane uses figurative speech and rhetorical devices. What does this implicate?
· to present images of war life
· wants the reader to see that the beauty of nature will prevail, no matter what types of negative behaviours humanity introduces into the environment
nature vs. humanity
beauty vs. drabness, darkness, destruction
"This landscape gave him assurance. (…) It was the religion of peace." (Crane 1969: 234)
· to develop a mood of foreboding
· to grasp the reader's mind
· to make setting more vivid/lively
· to describe mental condition/environment of Henry
III. How does Crane depict the enemy and Henry's regiment? Can you find some quotes in the novel?
> “red eyes (enemy campfires) watch across rivers" (Crane 1969: 190)
"the blaze” and “a monster” and " like dragons" (Crane 1969: 203);
> All these images contribute to an ominous mood of foreboding: the combatants are “serpents crawling from hill to hill”;
Henry’s regiment is a “blasting host” (a killing machine); "They must be machines of steel". ( Crane, 1969: 228)
> The regiment is sometimes identified as a person, sometimes a monster, and sometimes a reptile. These images cause the reader to lose sight of the fact that the regiment is really a unit of men, of individual soldiers. The continued use of personification draws the reader to a feeling that a battle is a battle of regimental monsters, not of individual men.
"…redoubtable dragons". (Crane, 1969: 229)
"…red and green monster". (Crane, 1969: 229)
IV. Crane uses a lot of animal imagery. Why do you think he chose to do that?
animal vs. human
no concerns vs. thoughts
no emotions vs. emotions
rabbit, wolf, squirrel, sheep, chicken,
>>> soldier must overcome his emotions/individuality to become part of the battle.
V. Colour images play an important role in the novel. What comes to your mind when you think of the colours red, black, blue, grey/silver and yellow considering "The Red Badge of Courage"?
· red ® blood, wounds, fear, fire --- "…made him soar on the red wings of war". (Crane, 1969: 252)
· blue ® Union, cold --- "The blue line was crusted with steel color, and…" (Crane, 1969:231)
· black ® death, darkness, forests
· grey/silver ® machines, stones, steel
· yellow ® sun, warmth, beauty --- "The clouds were tinged an earlike yellow in the sunrays and in the shadow were a sorry blue". (Crane, 1969: 228)
VI. The red badge is a symbol used in the novel. Crane even chose to call his book "The Red Badge of Courage". What does it symbolize?
>>> a blood stain was a symbol for other soldiers, however for Henry, blood stains become a sign of cowardice since he receives his blood stain from a fight with another union soldier after deserting from the fight
VII. Can you think of other symbols in the novel?
flag= sign of an army's place in battle.
>>> displays the courage of the person who had to carry it since the flag bearer must always stand at the front lines.
VIII. " with his shield or on". (Crane, 194) What does this mean?
> reference to the ancient Greek idea that the only honourable way to return from battle is to be holding your shield or to be carried back on it.
Literature:
· Gibson, Donald B. (1988) The red Badge of Courage: Redefining the Hero. Boston: Twayne Publ.
· Hochbruck, Wolfgang. () Historischer Roman und Ironie: Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (1894/95)
· Michell, Lee Clark. (1986) New essays on The red Badge of Courage. Cambridge. Cambridge: Univ. Pr.
· Nagel, James (1980) Stephen Crane and literary impressionism. University Park.: Pennsylvania State Univ. Pr.
· Pizer, Donald (1990) Critical Essays on the Stephen Crane The Red Badge of Courage. Boston. G.K. Hall & CO.
- New York Times 1896: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CRANE/reviews/frederic.html
- Crane, Stephen (1969) The Portable Stephen Crane. New York: Viking Penguin Inc. From now on referred to as “RBC” + page nr.
- Harold R. Hungerford, “„That was at Chancellorsville“: The Factual Framework of The Red Badge of Courage” Critical essays on The Red Badge of Courage. Ed. unknown. n.p., n.d.
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