Naturalism in The Red Badge of Courage
             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:
             Nature had 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)
             After Henry had run from the battle he looked to nature for a justification for his cowardly behavior. He felt better because when the squirrel was faced with danger, just as Henry had been the squirrel picked up and ran. The squirrel didn't stand in front of the pinecone in an attempt to fight, but with the first sign of danger, he ran. Henry sees himself as the squirrel, and he kn...