Personal Integration in Work: An Analysis of Stephen Crane's 'Many Red Devils'

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In ‘Many red devils…’ Stephen Crane exposes the truth about one’s personal integration into their work through a use of vivid imagery. It is simply inevitable that pieces of passion, motivation, hope, and drive will seep through into the work that one does, due to the inherent, expressive nature of human beings. As can especially be observed in literary works, throughout which the writer’s word choice and tone are directly affected by their own personal experiences and knowledge. Because of the inescapable personal integration into writing, there can be great difficulty in putting pen to paper in order to convey such private thoughts. Crane highlights this difficulty in transcribing personal thoughts by comparing words to ‘red devils’ which, …show more content…

When Crane notes that, “ it was strange/ to write in this red muck,” there is an indication that he is becoming increasingly more aware of the true effects of personal incorporation into one’s writing. There is a distinctive role that personal and cultural biases play in literature, as one author may incorporate a certain word into their writing that another author does not see as socially appropriate to use, it is the personal inflictions of an author that shape their work and Crane exemplifies the self realization of the important impacts that these inflictions …show more content…

This conflict stems from the contrast between opposing forces of light and dark, good and evil, the angel and the devil. While the devil represents one’s words, it is the pen mentioned by Crane that symbolizes a proverbial angel on the writer’s shoulder. The pen demonstrates an angelic sort of benevolence in that it, “ could smash [the devils],” but instead allows them to run free. However, this is not to say that there is no conflict between the opposing forces as some of the devilish words, “struggled in the ink,” produced by the saintly pen. This non- violent battle between the words and the writer’s pen is symbolic of the mental turmoil that a writer must sift through in order to filter their deepest thoughts from affecting the writing. Crane accurately depicts the mental struggle produced by the act of writing as an author will inevitably integrate themselves into their writing, however, they will also attempt to dilute their inner thoughts from seething through into their literary

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