About Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane rose to prominence as one of America's most influential pragmatist authors. He was born in New Jersey on November 1, 1871. Any of his works was credited with laying the groundwork for modern American naturalism. He attended Syracuse University and Lafayette College for his education. He became acquainted with street life and hardship firsthand while enjoying a bohemian lifestyle among local musicians. His literary activities were focused on New York's downtrodden tenement neighborhoods. Crane also worked in a variety of capacities. In the summer of 1891, for example, he served as a correspondent in his brother's newsroom in Asbury Park. Crane also wrote stories and drawings in his spare time. While living in New York, he also did some freelance writing and worked briefly commercial business. Unfortunately, he died of tuberculosis on June 5, 1900, aged 28 (Weatherford 28). This paper will focus on the theme, style, point of view, characterization, setting, and plot on various work by Crane.

Whilomville Stories

The approach of the stories made up the sub genre of short stories, by and large; they are featured in quality magazines, including Atlantic or the Harper’s Monthly, which are connected by a universal set of setting and characters. The Whilomville Stories by Crane can be described as being quick reads, light, and they are upbeat. Furthermore, these stories also connect readily in a convention of distinctly American history, images, situations, and idioms. In Whilomville, much of the upbeat and comic tones are established by the embellishment of little circumstances, particularly, child’s play, to the stature of the classic register. An instance in the story is when Cora is inadequately disciplined by her father; she “lifted to heaven a soprano howl that was loud and clear, which articulated the final expression in even medieval agony” (One Year in Books). Ideally, these exaggerations ventriloquize the creative sensibility of a child to the playground confrontations as well as creating a slightly satirical and comic effect. Moreover, the make-believe worlds are without a doubt deeply emotional and epic. Nevertheless, despite the stories being light and upbeat, they do not lack the edge of critique. These include pointless education systems, permissive parenting, as well as the dark side of the nature of the humans, which is evident in the social play that involves the children (One Year in Books).

Realism in American Literature

Realism is a literary approach applied by numerous authors, including Stephen Crane. In this story, realism covers the period from civil war to the turn of the century. In the course of this time, Cranes fiction work devoted to an exploration and representation of the American lives in various contexts. After the civil war, the state started to grow rapidly; there was rapid growth in urbanization and industrialism, increasing rate of literacy and democracy, a relative rise in middle-class, and a growing population base as a result of immigration. This presented a fertile literacy setting for readers who wished to have knowledge of this rapid transformation in culture. In this context, realism can be perceived as an approach for managing and imagining the threats of social change. The concept sets itself at work to reflect on events and characters, which are seen to be the most uninteresting and ordinary to extract from these their real meaning and full value (Campbell).

The Knife

The point of view of the fictional story is that any real object, in this case, the knives can assist to keep a historian honest. This story by Crane concerns a recovery after temptation and a near betrayal. Crane’s unexpected touch revolves around redemption and a cycle of danger. Furthermore, The Knife is the only story in Crane’s Whilomville Stories that is the most complex and does not involve children. Nonetheless, it is the most balanced of the series in the structure of its narrative. The story does not time and again transcend the 1890s stereotypes. However, Crane’s rendition of the African-American dialect and the unsparing depiction of a Northern black community in the Knife are more convincing compared to the more idealized representation of Thomas Nelson and Chandler Harris (Wertheim 188).

The reason as to why the story was included in the Tales of Whilomville is because the black mediates the relationship between the adult and the child. The black is perceived to be a kind of grown child as distinguished by the culture of the white majority. The black adult is conceived to be an individual who lacks the maturity enjoyed by the white counterparts in the similar age bracket. The white-majority refers to the word boy when pointing out a black male adult (Halliburton 205).

The Upturned Face

The Upturned Face is a narrative by Crane, which is concerned with the American civil war horror. In the story, various fundamental aspects of fiction, especially, the point of view, visual imagery, setting, and plot have been kept to a minimal (Sorrentino 94). In this context, the Crane merges the aspects of naturalism and realism in the narrative. As such, he was able to once again portray the horror of death as well as the randomness of mortality. Almost the entire story is made up of the story is made up of either dialogue or descriptive action. Crane describes what the characters are doing in great details and very clearly, which implies that he spends a lot of time on graphic work. The author describes exactly how the bullets were flying about the men, how they dug the grave and searched for valuables from the dead body, as well as how they lifted the body to drop it into the grave.

Additionally, Crane has used quotation marks to record the exact spoken words by the characters. This shows that he has applied quite a bit of dialogue. Although the author has recorded the conversation and described the action, in the story, he has left it up to the reader to derive some insight as well as a lesson from the story (Wertheim 346).

In regards to the Upturned Face, Mirror with Clouds, Crane has further developed incredibly descriptive and accurate illustration warfare, from two different perspectives. In the narrative, Crane has managed to generate a continuous parallelism, between the sounds of battle and the sounds of the burial. Nonetheless, what differentiates this parallelism is the practical technique that the author has employed. This entails the author’s perfect imitation of the battlefield reality. Instead of applying typical heroic characters in this narrative, this is linked to the portrayal of war; the author has preferred to implement a story that is rather non-judgmental and neutral and leaves the reader to evaluate. The continuous focus of this story on the dead body almost puts it into the category of the macabre. The title of the narrative referrers to the way they buried “Old Bill.” It also refers to the pain of regret they have in laying him to rest so hastily and in the absence of a proper burial would have been needed (Dale).

Literary Naturalism

The narrative of Literary Naturalism attempts to portray the harsh realities of the American life in the course of the 19th to 20th Century transition. This concept of writing time and again featured personalities surviving in the far grittier setting. This is over and over again featured in a universe indifferent to the suffering of the humans. This is also heavily influenced by scientific and social theories, usually from a journalistic or detached standpoint, which involves the society and surroundings influences on the development of the individual. Stephen Crane took part in this tradition of literary naturalism, where he has narrated about the callous indifference of nature, incredible short stories, industry, social class, and the city life (Edsitement.neh.gov).

The Open Boat by Crane is an ideal narrative that evaluates the naturalistic mode of writing. It comprises aspects that contain external forces and a pessimistic tone that are indifferent from the personalities in the piece. The narrative is of an exemplary naturalism for the reason that it is not an entity but rather a force that is indifferent; the personalities are left to surmise to the will of forces that are external, and its cynical portrayal of life. The contribution of the morbid and the dark view of life portray that the stories by the author appear to have a theme of hopelessness, which is evident in it. The perception and the tone of the writing of the story from the beginning to the end is one that is somber, and the personalities appear to be free of peril. The characters seem to be hopeless for the reason that as the realist believe, they are not agents of free will, but they are puppets to their dingy, the winds, and the ocean (Crane 6).

Writing Styles

Crane pioneered an unsentimental and naturalistic writing style, which was strongly subjective by the experiences of Crane as a journalist. Contrary to the Romantic tastes of his time, the focus of the author on realistic stories, which time and again ended without a clear sense of resolution or tragically, did not have a significant influence until the next generation. His work also presented sudden shifts in the point of view as well as in tone. Although the imagery of the author appears vivid, the narratives infrequently give final interpretations. These qualities add up to the multi-layered irony of Crane. Furthermore, the works by the author reflect the majority of the most significant artistic concern at the end of the nineteenth century, particularly, symbolism, impressionism, and naturalism. Crane’s works argue that people live in a universe of superior and vast natural forces, not a world of a certain moral order or divine providence. The way an author writes is the style of a literary work (Stobaugh 148).

Conclusion

Stephen Crane is an artist who impacted American literature. He was able to achieve this through his unique approach as well as the style of writing. His lifestyle, as well as his writing, was unique, very free, and not governed by a set of rules. Crane’s influence can still be seen in the present day literature, and his freedom, as well as unique style, would change writers for years to come. Stephen Crane took part in this tradition of literary naturalism, where he has narrated about the callous indifference of nature, engaging short stories, industry, social class, and the city life (Edsitement.neh.gov).



Works Cited

Campbell, Donna M. “Realism in American Literature.” Realism in American Literature, 2013, public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm. Accessed 20 July 2017.

Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat. Vol. 46. Lulu. com, 2016.

Dale. "Crane’S “The Upturned Face”." Mirror With Clouds, 2013, https://mirrorwithclouds.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/cranes-the-upturned-face/.

Edsitement.neh.gov. "Crane, London, And Literary Naturalism | Edsitement." Edsitement.Neh.Gov, https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/crane-london-and-literary-naturalism.

Halliburton, David. The color of the sky: a study of Stephen Crane. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

One Year in Books. “One Year in Books.” Whilomville Stories by Stephen Crane, 1 Jan. 1970, oneyearinbooks.blogspot.co.ke/2011/03/whilomville-stories-by-stephen-crane.html. Accessed 20 July 2017.

Sorrentino, Paul. Student companion to Stephen Crane. Westport (Conn.), Greenwood Press, 2006.

Stobaugh, James P. Studies in World History Volume 2 (Student): The New World to the Modern Age (1500 AD to 1900 AD). Vol. 2. New Leaf Publishing Group, 2014.

Weatherford, Richard. Stephen Crane. revised ed., Routledge, 2013.

Wertheim, Stanley. A Stephen Crane encyclopedia. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1997.