Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was a pretigious American novelist, poet, and short-story writer. Although he died at a young age, he lived an incredible life. He used personal experience and a wild imagination to create what some critics claim to be the beginning of Modern American Naturalism. He wrote total of 9 books, including The Red Badge of Courage where he got international fame.
Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871 in Newark, New Jersey. (source #3) He was the youngest son of fourteen children born to Reverend Jonathan Townley Crane (father) and Mary Peck (mother). In 1880, his father died and shortly after, Stephen and his mother moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was a resort sixty miles away from New York City, to be closer to the Methodist Camp Community of Ocean Grove where Jonathan Crane helped establish. (source #2)
As Stephen got older, he strayed away from teachings of the Methodist Church. His mother was concerned and sent him to Pennington Seminary, in the hope that he would recieve a good academic background, and would hopefully grow closer to the church. He
…show more content…
The novel was about a fictional Civil War hero and the psychological aspect of war. Although Crane wrote about a personal war experience, he’s never been to war. So, in 1896 went to be a war correspondent to join insurgents who were fighting against spanish rule in cuba. (Source #2) In December Crane was to set sail on the “Commodore” to head to Cuba, but nevertheless, the ship only got several miles down the St. John River before it ran a ground. Crane and some others were forced into a small flimsy lifeboats before the “Commodore” capsized with some of the crew still on. It took fifty-four hours for Crane and the other ship mates to make back to the Dayton shore. They lost one due to drowning along the way. This life frightening experience inspired Crane to write his best known short-story “The Open