Throughout the novel Red Badge of Courage, we are constantly being reminded of a general theme of naturalism. The entire novel is a struggle by Henry to grow as a person and attempt to find satisfaction in the person that he has become. Henry has gone to battle not only to fight for the cause, but also to grow as a person. There are many actions that Henry performs which do not fulfill the expectations that he has for himself. This becomes very difficult for Henry to cope with and therefore he looks for justification in his actions. Henry attempts to use the nature around him to give himself justification for his actions, which conforms to the theme of the novel and Crane's use of naturalism and how Henry looks to nature as a model for his actions.

According to Professor Novaks' lecture, naturalism is a form of realism in which authors present their work as a scientific observation of a world in which people's acts are strictly determined by their nature and the nature of their surroundings. In Chapter 7 after Henry had run from a battle, he was attempting to find some sort of resolution for his actions when he sees a squirrel and throws a pinecone at it. He then says:

Sometimes the brambles formed chains and tried to hold him back. Trees, confronting him, stretched out their arms and forbade him to pass. After its previous hostility this new resistance of the forest filled him with a fine bitterness. It seemed that Nature could not be quite ready to kill him. (60)

These three passages are full of naturalism and the bond that nature can have with man, comforting him and keeping him satisfied with the person that he was. The realism of the way in which nature represents Henry's life gives nature an empowering sense of human qualities, which Henry can relate to. War will bring out qualities in a person that have never been exposed before, and, therefore, people need to cope with war in behavior that they have never had to deal with before. For instance, Henry probably never thought of nature as being so closely related to him as a friend and a protector until war came. The naturalism that is portrayed in the previous passages, and in the entire novel, makes this novel unique in bringing out the relationship between nature and man and Henry's contentment of his actions due to nature.

rfectly in Henry's mind because he believes that he is not a coward, but still does not have to fight.

ad given him a sign. The squirrel, immediately upon recognizing danger, had taken to his legs without ado. He did not stand stolidly baring his furry belly to the missile, and die with an upward glance at the sympathetic heavens. On the contrary, he had fled as fast as his legs could carry him; (56)

The first thing that is brought to attention is that the capital N in nature is there to convey a feeling that both Crane and Henry have a great respect for nature, as if nature is worthy of being a proper noun. Crane and Henry don't treat nature as a thing, but rather as person with a personality and many different traits almost like one would treat another person. In the first sentence where he speaks of the brambles trying

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1328
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)