Stephen Cranes A Mystery of Heroism Essay - 1325 Words

Stephen Cranes A Mystery of Heroism Stephen Crane, an avant-garde writer of his time, forced his readers to look beyond his written words for a more underlined, meaningful moral in most of his stories. Crane follows a strict pattern in most of his work. His subject matter usually deals with the physical, emotional, and intellectual responses of ordinary people confronted by extraordinary, extreme experiences. Fairly common themes are presented in his writing, including fallen humanity and harsh realities; yet all seem to overlap in the category of heroism. Crane, fascinated by the status of a hero, seemed to moralize each story he wrote with a sense of hope. Readers get the impression that you do not have to be super-human to†¦show more content†¦When at home his mother had aroused him for the early labor of his life on the farm, it had often been his fashion to be irritable, childish, diabolical, and his mother died since he had come to war. On Collins’ return to his regiment, he happens across a dying man in need of a drink. In a hopeless act of kindness, Fred lets the wounded soldier drink from his bucket as he passes. Yet this scene is but a small paragraph in the story, it completes the moral and emphasizes Crane’s goal of the narrative. Although Fred Collins is but a simple man not free from flaws, he uncovers the mystery of heroism. He is not a hero because he put a title upon himself, or because he denied death the satisfaction. He is a hero in the sense that he did a good thing without trying for that hero title. Yet he might not know it, he was a hero for that one moment in the eyes of the wounded soldier. Crane also shows heroism works in very mysterious ways. In another of Crane’s shorts, The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky, the character of Jack Potter is put to the task of proving his heroism as sheriff of his town. As the story opens, the reader is introduced to Jack as a subtle, quiet man. He is on his way to Yellow Sky, Texas riding in a parlor-car with his new wife. Crane purposely does not clue the reader in as to the trueShow MoreRelatedIrony and Sarcasm in A Mystery of Heroism and War is Kind Essay examples947 Words   |  4 PagesIrony and Sarcasm in A Mystery of Heroism and War is Kind In literature, similar themes are portrayed in many different ways, mostly according to the time period they were written in. A new generation of writers came of age after the civil war, known as the realists. They dominated American fiction from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. They took their ideas from the slums of the rapidly growing cities at that time, from the factories replacing farmland, and fromRead MoreBlood on a Battlefield in A Mystery of Heroism by Stephen Crane570 Words   |  2 Pagesand death. 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In such situations, one could truly reveal his personality by either saving themselves or other individuals. .For that reason, Stephen Crane’sRead MoreEssay on A Brief Biography on Stephen Crane1345 Words   |  6 PagesStephen Crane was one of America’s most influential nineteenth century writers of realism. He was credited for being a novelist, short-story-writer, poet, and journalist. He was born on November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey, as Stephen Townley Crane. Stephen was the youngest sibling of fourteen children (â€Å"Stephen Crane Biography†). His writing inspiration came from his family. His mother dedicated he r life to social concerns, while his father was a Methodist minister. Two of Crane’s brothersRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pageswhat the characters do or say as the plot unfolds (as, for example, in Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†). Conflict, then, is the basic opposition, or tension, that sets the plot in motion; it engages the reader, builds the suspense or mystery of the work, and arouses expectation for the vents that are to follow. The plot of the traditional short story is often conceived of as moving through five distinct sections or stages, which can be diagrammed roughly as follows: 3. Crisis