A Psychological Path To Maturity

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) burst into international literary prominence with The Red Badge of Courage (1895). In the twenties Crane was admired as a rebel against Victorian conformity and hypocrisy. But with the advent of WWI, readers began to notice Stephen Crane as the realist, the remarkable technician, and the poetic innovator. By the late forties, when a series of important WWI novels were being published, reviewers and critics began to draw inevitable comparisons, and Stephen was up for another major critical rediscovery. Some critics have searched Crane's fiction for symbols, Christian and otherwise. Other critics have focused their attention upon Crane's irony, or his imagery. Because of his accomplishment in language, form and application of various techniques, critics have long debated whether Crane's fiction should be considered a product of any specific literary movement or method. His work has been claimed by several schools and referred to as realistic, naturalistic, symbolic, and impressionistic.At the same time, The Red Badge of Courage is commonly defined as a successful war novel, with heroism, manhood, or self-preservation as its themes. In fact, Crane presents the war from the point of view of a single ignorant private. In his book, Crane not only describes Henry who has grown from an ignorant boy to a tried and trustworthy man but also documents the development of his troop, who begins as a collection of raw recruits never going under fire but ends as a finished and formidable fighting machine. Critics and readers have long debated whether the protagonist has really achieved maturity at the end of the novel. It is just because of the openness of the novel's ending that makes it possible to examine the development of the protagonist in the novel.This thesis consists of three parts along with an introduction and a conclusion. Part One gives an introduction to Bildungsroman. Part Two analyzes the significance of the novel as a Bildungsroman. The novel reflects young people's desire for growth in a difficult and unsteady world and their psychological struggle and torment. Part Three traces the development of the protagonist Henry. With his romantic dream of glory set back, he at first believes himself weak and unworthy when facing the enormous obstacles he encounters, but finally gains the experience necessary to cope with life and thus achieves a store of inner strength and maturity. In conclusion, the thesis points out that: 1) The Red Badge of Courage is a nineteenth-century initiation story in compressed form. Crane shows us young people's ability to achieve maturity by adapting themselves to the environment; 2) Crane sets his protagonist in the war in order to express his perception about the war where there is no morally right or wrong. War by nature is brutal and ruthless; 3) Crane implies in his novel that the social, political and historical problems at his time cause great trouble to the American people, especially to the young people.