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Summary: The Red Badge Of Courage By Stephen Crane

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The Civil War was a hard time for the United States. Old men did not fight in the war. In the Civil War “more than 40 percent fell into the eighteen to twenty-one age bracket”. (American Eras 6) War is a frightening time for anyone, but especially frightening for the young men going off to fight other Americans. The North had a distinct advantage over the South with the population “2.5 times larger than that of the South, 22,300,000 to 9,100,000”. (American Eras 3) The population did help win the war for the North, but the South would not make the fight easy. Heavy losses recorded on both sides throughout the war caused sadness. Stephen Crane accurately uses Civil War medical practices, field conditions, and new weapons to show one can overcome loneliness and fear in The Red Badge of Courage. Stephen Crane was influenced by his surroundings to write about the Civil War. Stephen Crane “was born …show more content…

New rifles caused great amounts of damage. Both armies “abandoned the old smoothbore muskets and embraced the new “rifled” muskets.”(American Era 8) The new rifles caused more damage, which brought fear to both sides. It also brought happiness, because the men thought the rifles could save them. New cannons also caused collateral damage. Henry describes “a shell screaming like a storm banshee went over the huddled heads of the reserves”(Crane 20) The artillery shells could blow up groups of men,which made them a deciding factor in some battles. Hearing friendly artillery in the war probably helped some soldiers feel less afraid, because they knew their comrades would have their back. The new blades could could cut deeper than the old blades. The “mounted cavalrymen and fixed bayonets played a more prominent role” because the bayonets are sharper and more well made than previous blades.(American Era 2) The horses combined with the bayonets made a deadly combo. The new weapons struck fear into the hearts of both

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