On The Nihilism And Anti-nihilism In Crane’s Poetry

Stephen Crane(1871-1900),a famous American writer,has created numerous moving and outstanding works in his short life,who leaves a significant stroke in the history of American literature.His novels and short stories make him well-known all over the world.In addition,he is also a brilliant and talented poet.He publishes two poetry collections,The Black Riders(1895)and War is Kind(1899),which convey Crane’s philosophical thinking on life through using rich images and unique writing style.At present,scholars at home and abroad pay more attention to Crane’s novels and short stories,but few to his poetry.Few scholars have made deep research on the nihilism and anti-nihilism reflected in his poetry,which leaves a certain research space and possibility for this paper.Through intensive reading of Crane’s two poetry collections,the thesis writer finds that most of Crane’s poems imply his contradictory views on nihilism.On the one hand,he believes that the human world and human fate are meaningless and hopeless.On the other hand,he acknowledges the courage of human beings and tries to find other ways to defend against nihilism and face human dilemma.This paper attempts to analyze the opposition between nihilism and anti-nihilism in Crane’s poetry from three chapters.The first chapter mainly discusses the opposition between the poet’s negation and recognition of human external pursuit in his poetry.On the one hand,Crane denies the human pursuit of their own desires,believing that all pursuits are futile and meaningless;He denies that the pursuit of the meaning of life,because he believes that there is nothing behind life.On the other hand,he recognizes the perseverance of human beings in the pursuit process,and affirms the great courage of people when facing life difficulties.The second chapter mainly discusses the opposition between Crane’s acceptance and his escape from absurdity in the poetry.On the one hand,Crane frankly accepts the absurdity of the relationship between man and the universe,man and society.On the other hand,he still tries to escape from absurdity to defend against nihilism by making contact with the natural world and soberly recognizing the human situation.The third chapter mainly discusses the opposition between Crane’s rejection and his establishment of spiritual worship in the poetry.On the one hand,he gives up and criticizes the fake religious belief and blind worship of sages in reality.On the other hand,he tries to appeal to people to re-establish the God in their own hearts,listen to the guidance of their inner voice,and choose to treat past experiences in a unique way,taking the essence out of the dross,which is another manifestation of his anti-nihilistic thought.Based on the philosophical theory of nihilism by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche,Arthur Schopenhauer,Glicksberg,I.Charles,and other people,this paper discusses the philosophical thinking of the contradiction of nihilism contained in Crane’s poetry.Finally,this thesis concludes that the opposition between nihilistic and anti-nihilistic thoughts reflects Crane’s clear understanding of cruel reality and human predicament,his bold rebellion against traditional values and order,and his active struggle against nihilism.