Exploring Religious Elements i
Reading selected poems of Stephen Crane brings to light the unique perspectives this young writer had on religion and moral values. In a quest to more fully understand Crane and his ideas, beginning with a brief biographical sketch is appropriate. Born November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey, Stephen Crane was the fourteenth and youngest child of a Methodist minister. Young Crane grew up quickly with the advent of several transitions in his life including the loss of his father at age nine and three separate family relocations. Absolutely bristling with natural writing talent, Crane attempted university life twice, once at Lafayette and again at Syracuse, only to terminate his studies early on both occasions. After this brief academic tenure, Crane went to work as a journalist with extremely limited success. His acclaimed writing style, while hailed as brilliant in later years, was not ideal for factual newspaper columns. It was during this time of poverty in Crane's life he developed much of his cynicism and artistic wit while living in the slums of New York. Eventually, Crane's masterpieces Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and The Red Badge of Courage gained him enough attention to garner a steady job as a feature war repor
His two most memorable works are about war and life on the streets. Another poem, "The Tree in the Garden Rained Flowers" displays large measures of sarcasm and a general attitude of disparity in a thinly disguised fable about the allocation of resources to humans by God. His interesting views on the subject of religion are spattered amongst his various works, but perhaps the most vibrant and concise examples of Crane's philosophical existentialism occur in his poetry through various personas. Even though he had no formal philosophical education, it was this mix of uncompromising Christian background along with Crane's experiences of the streets of New York and the war-torn battlefields of Turkey and Mexico that caused him to form his often critical and always cynical attitude towards God and organized religion in general. Through his poetry, using sarcasm and wit as allies, Crane demonstrates his distaste for many religious practices and thoughts. Even the best of friends has quarrels, and the struggle is not nearly as important as the reaction it garners. " Crane writes a sarcastic poem of defiance that seeks to decry the unfairness of life's social Darwinism. The tutor sees a problem, but God's explanation of his reasoning behind the situation causes the tutor to concede the point to God in light of His almighty wisdom. " This can only further point to Crane's irreverence. In "A God in Wrath," Crane verbally assaults the reader with reverberating waves of cynicism especially revealing and powerful in a poem of such short length. With this line of thought, the people watching the struggle could certainly be his family as they disapprove of the youngest Crane's nonconformist attitude. The poem begins with the opening lines describing a "garden" where it rained flowers.
Common topics in this essay:
Rained Flowers,
God Wrath,
God Crane,
Stephen Crane,
Instead Crane,
Wrath Crane,
Turkey Mexico,
Lafayette Syracuse,
Tribune Growing,
Rider Lines,
stephen crane,
organized religion,
god crane,
god wrath,
mcgraw hill 1999,
university press,
9th edition,
ii 9th,
vol ii,
literature vol,
american tradition,
black rider lines,
boston mcgraw hill,
edition boston mcgraw,
9th edition boston,
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Acceptance Essays
