Naturalism In 'The Red Badge Of Courage'

It is true that Naturalism and Symbolism are closely related; since some writers started out in the first movement before becoming to the latter. In symbolist painters’ hands, landscapes were not just a duplicate of the real word: they were an expression of the artist’s soul. Much like Romanticism, Symbolism was highly subjective and emotional. The Symbolists considered that the value of a work of art arose from the recreation of the inner world through color, line, and composition. Even though Stephen Crane was a Naturalist, he incorporated some elements of Symbolism to his writing: the colors in The Red Badge of Courage are subtle representations of the protagonist’s perception. This really visual technique allows the author to create vivid images that enable the reader to picture the story better. Right from the start, Crane draws the reader’s attention to color −one can tell something it is important when it appears on the title. Red is the most listed one throughout the book. A possible interpretation for its appearance could be that it represents bravery, anger, war as a monster and blood.
The very

The most repetitive along the narrative is red, which stands for a number of things. One of them is blood. For instance, all the wounds, such as the title’s red badge of courage, are red. Another is the horror of war. Crane does this by personifying war as a blood hungry monster or dragon with red glowing eyes. Also red means bravery and anger −when Henry is angry or courageous his features or thoughts are red. Stephen Crane used his words in a way in which Symbolist painters would have approved: he depicted a highly realistic battlefield by relaying in color and composition to express his character’s