Literary Analysis: The Red Badge of Courage Samuel Ndegwa College

Historical evolution of literary periods catalyzed significant shifts of schools of thoughts in literature over the centuries culminating into a wave Realism in the late 19th century. American Realism movement interconnects through a wide web of artistic representations transcending from absolute rejection of Romanticism in various fields of art and literature. In this new dimension, the conception of characters and subjects of literature are independent of secular and empirical rules imposing moral linguistic beliefs limiting the operational space of writers (Johanningsmeier 48). This literary analysis essay will interpret the text, “The Red Badge of Courage” to show stylistic devices and techniques of American realism as used in the texts written in the early years after the civil war objectively depict the true nature human nature as not being ideal. The analysis supports the sentiments of American realism are justifiable that romanticism is an illusion that should be rejected by art and literature. In its quest transform the mythical symbolism, idealistic attributes and supernatural characteristics unattainable by human characters in real life, realism objectively seeks to ontologically discover the truth and faithfully...