Examples Of Naturalism In The Red Badge Of Courage

Fight or flight? Which do we choose in the heat of the moment? In the novel The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, a young boy is thrown into the depths of war and must come face to face with the same question. Though out the novel Crane writes of the conflict of being able to have the courage to stay and fight rather than taking off running. The theme of courage is written through the character’s traits, actions, and the topic of naturalism. Stephen Crane however, was unable to clearly tell Henry’s growth and how he found his courage in the midst of the war. Through the story our main Character Henry, also known as the youth, was battling with having bravery and making the choice to stay and fight. For example, the youth had asked his fellow men, “How do you know you won’t run when the time comes?” (Page 21 Chapter 2) From the start Henry had been asking himself “will I run?” He had yet to see battle and his mind was already fighting with himself. He asked others the same question to help him think that it was reasonable that he felt there was a chance he

During his first battle, “He ran like a blind man. Two or three times he fell down.” (Page 47 Chapter 6) His main question of his courage was proven to be weak when he had run away from his first battle. In an instant his body told him flight. Through many battles he did the same thing constantly running or avoiding the main fight. Finally, though he took fight in one battle, “He had no time for dissections, but he knew that he thought of the bullets only as things that could prevent him from reaching the place of his endeavor.” (Page 142 Chapter 23) Once again Crane had simply flicked a switch and the youth was ready to throw himself into battle. Where had this sudden burst of courage come from? What were his thoughts that made him so easily give himself into