Stephen Crane

By Samuel Potter, 10/10/07

Stephen Crane, American novelist, short-story writer and poet, was born in 1871 in Newark, New Jersey. As a young man, Crane must have caused his Christian parents great sorrow, for he rebelled against his family’s Christian principles. Crane’s philosophy was that social, economic, and environmental forces were the causes of man’s sinful behaviour. Nevertheless, Crane was one of the greats of American Literature. He was exceptionally realistic in his writings. Crane’s first novel, entitled Maggie: a Girl of the Streets, depicted the realities of life in the gutters of New York City and revealed Crane’s philosophy that it is man’s circumstances that make him sinful. This book was a failure. His next novel however, The Red Badge of Courage, was a great success. This was perhaps his best and most famous work and realistically portrayed the feelings and emotions of brave men in battle. Crane’s ability to accurately describe war situations won him worldwide recognition, and he was hired to work as a war correspondent in the Greek-Turkish and Spanish-American wars. It was during the Spanish-American War that he wrote his famous short story, The Open Boat. Tragically, Crane died of tuberculosis in 1900 when he was only 28.