The Red Badge of Courage is a novel by Stephen Crane published in 1895. This novel was written during the age of realism. The story revolves around Henry Flemming, a young soldier who has just joined the Union forces during the Civil War. The readers get to witness how Henry grows as a man in result of the war. The Red Badge of Courage is a realistic novel because it shows the reality of death, war, and the struggle to survive. The Red Badge of Courage is a realistic novel because it shows the reality of death. The novel depicts several corpses in a grueling fashion. Henry comes across a body in which Crane describes, ".the eyes, staring at the youth, had changed to a dull hue to be seen on the side of a dead fish. The mouth was open. Its red had changed o an appalling yellow. Over the gray skin of the face ran little ants." (7, 35) Crane uses vivid descriptions to paint a gruesome picture of what death is actually like. He doesn't sugar-coat death by making slow and peaceful. There are no dramatic last words or philosophizing of death. The Red Badge of Courage shows the reality of death, making it a realistic novel. .
The Red Badge of Courage is a realistic novel because it shows the reality of war. Henry goes to war believing that it would be exciting and action-packed. However, when he joined he quickly realized that it wasn't as he thought. He was met with the fear of running from battle and the visual effects of the war on the other soldiers. During a battle, Crane describes a regiment as ,"breathless with horror.they shrank back and crouched as if compelled to await a flood." (4 22) Crane is credited with creating a scene that was realistic of the battlefield. Many veterans of the war he praised The Red Badge of Courage for its accurate recreation of the feelings and events of war even though Crane never went to battle. In fact, Crane was born six years after the war ended.
