How Has Stephen Crane Changed America

Throughout history, authors have written novels that have changed America. Stephen Crane, was a premier realistic writer and helped establish the foundations of American naturalism. Naturalism gives readers a different view on novels as it added scientific elements such as environment and heredity to fictional characters. “His Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895) is a classic of American literature that realistically depicts the psychological complexities of fear and courage on the battlefield” (Poetry Foundation).Stephen Crane was one of the most influential writers during the 19th century. Stephen Crane was born on November 1st, 1871 to Mary Helen Peck Crane and Reverend Jonathan Townley Crane. The youngest out of fourteen children, his family influenced his love for writing as his mother and father both wrote
Working here, Crane sketched out his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893). Crane decided that "humanity was a more interesting study" than the college curriculum. Crane soon then dropped out of college becoming a full time reporter for New York Tribune. Working here, Crane finished his first novel Maggie. The novel was initially rejected by several publishers who feared that Crane's story of slum life would shock readers, as the book portrayed a innocent and abused girl that went into prostitution and eventually her death. “Critics suggest that the novel was a major development in American literary Naturalism and that it introduced Crane's vision of life as warfare: influenced by the Darwinism of the times, Crane viewed individuals as victims of purposeless forces and believed that they encountered only hostility in their relationships with other individuals, with society, with nature, and with God”(Poetry Foundation). After the rejection of his first novel, Crane began on his second novel The Red Badge of Courage, which soon later made hi internationally