The Red Badge of Courage (published 1895) by Stephen Crane is an American civil war novel, and is recognised as one of the best novels ever written about war, and is famous for its realistic battle sequences. Even Hemmingway said that Crane was a great inspiration for him. Yet Crane was born after the American civil war; and even more startling, he had never set foot on a battlefield. So how did he accomplish this feat?
There are obviously many reasons,
many literary techniques that he employs, but one technique in particular is worthy
of study: Personification. It is evident throughout the entire novel. The
battlefield, elements of nature (indeed, nature herself), and all kinds of
instruments of battle, such as bullets and artillery shells, are rendered as
living, breathing entities.
First, the Union army is seen as a
living, breathing entity, for example: ‘the army awakened, and began to tremble
… It cast its eyes upon the roads.’ The campfires of the army are likened to
the eyes of this living thing: ‘one could see … the red, eyelike gleam of
hostile camp-fires set in the low brows of distant hills.’
Next, instruments of war are
embroiled with human properties, even bullets which ‘began to whistle among the
branches and nip at the trees.’ These ‘crackling shots … were to [the soldier]
like voices’ and ‘spiteful sentences’.
Artillery pieces are portrayed as real,
living things, and not mere objects on the battlefield. Even before they began
firing, ‘the artillery were assembling as if for a conference.’ Then the ‘batteries were speaking’ and ‘the
guns, stolid and undaunted, spoke’ with ‘courageous words’ and ‘the cannon with
their noses … grumbled like stout men’. The cannon had ‘entered the dispute’ as
if they were angry people wanting to be heard, as in ‘their voices made a
thudding sound’ and ‘the guns were roaring without an instant's pause for
breath.’ Even the artillery shells are personified: ‘They hurtled over [the
soldier’s] head with long wild screams. As he listened he imagined them to have
rows of cruel teeth that grinned at him.’
Turning to the battle flag, it lives,
breaths, and has emotion: ‘The battle flag in the distance jerked about
madly. It seemed to be struggling to
free itself from an agony … The flag suddenly sank down as if dying. Its motion as it fell was a gesture of
despair.’
Finally, there are the drums and
bugles which ‘sing’ and ‘call to each other’.
Next, personification is evident in nature.
To the narrator, nature herself is perceived ‘to be a woman with a deep
aversion to tragedy.’
The forest is alive; trees and vines
seem to experience pain and inner turmoil. For instance, ‘The creepers,
catching against his legs, cried out harshly as their sprays were torn from the
barks of trees.’ Moreover, ‘prominent trees spoke to [the soldier] of tragedies—hidden,
mysterious, solemn.’
Furthermore, trees are shown to be acting
like people, for example, ‘The trees hushed and stood motionless [and] seemed
to be listening.’ Also, ‘trees and vines … waved their arms and turned their
face leaves toward [the soldier].’ Even the branches ‘threatened’ the soldier;
and when not threatening ‘the trees began softly to sing a hymn of twilight.’ There is a further reference to the ‘chanted
chorus of the trees’.
The trees seem to be warning the
soldier, as in this passage: ‘Trees, confronting him, stretched out their arms
and forbade him to pass … It seemed that Nature could not be quite ready to
kill him.’
Finally with nature, a river is seen
as something alive, with a sombre feeling. For example: ‘The mournful current
moved slowly on, and from the water, shaded black, some white bubble eyes
looked at the men.’
Next, the battlefield comes alive. ‘This
landscape … would die if its timid eyes were compelled to see blood.’ Even a farmhouse after the battle appears
‘calm’ and a ‘little narrow roadway now lay lifeless.’
All in all, personification is dominant
in the novel, rendering nature, instruments of war, the army, and the
battlefield itself as living, breathing bodies. One technique among many,
personification brings the war scenes to life, and creates a sorrowful,
haunting, and often grisly picture of warfare that is forever implanted in the
reader’s mind.
