Throughout the course of human literature new styles and eras rise and fall due to the fickleness and uncertainty of the public. Eventually a new book comes along, the perfect book, the book that bridges the gap between two literary eras and starts a new literary movement all in one publication. At the end of the nineteenth century a young man named Stephen Crane announced the publication of his new book, The Red Badge of Courage. Crane's success began almost over night, and more completely than any other book had done for many years, had taken the reading public by storm. Critics often criticized Crane for his lifestyle and mysterious appearance; many wonder what inspired this man to write this perfect Civil War novel. An author's inspiration can come from the widest array of things in the world, but Crane's were not anything new. Crane utilized what most authors would, he collected his experiences from his childhood and home life, he used the popular literary influences of the time period, and he gathered his experiences from college. These influences are apparent throughout the novel, between Crane's riveting battle descriptions and picturesque descriptions of nature it is evident that author's do include their own lives into their writing.
             At the end of every era there is a pivotal piece of work that makes the transition into the next era. The Red Badge of Courage is the pivotal American piece of literature that divides the nineteenth and twentieth centuries yet at the same times bridges the gap between the eras. The Red Badge of Courage was published in 1895, just thirty years after the Civil War. Much conflict and duress still lay throughout the country and Stephen Crane took all that in and wrote a book about it. An early English critic, Sydney Brooks, was totally convinced by Crane's depictions of combat, and assumed that Crane had fought in the Civil War. If Red Badge of Courage were altogether...