Stephen Crane
(1871–1900)

Stephen Crane died of tuberculosis at the age of 28. Yet, during his short life he was one of the leaders of the Naturalist movement and one of the most highly regarded writers of his time.

The youngest of 14 children, Crane was born and raised in New Jersey. After briefly attending Syracuse University, where he spent more energy playing baseball than studying, he moved to New York City and found work as a journalist. Inspired by his observations and experiences as a newspaper writer, Crane completed his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893), which he had begun while at Syracuse. A grimly realistic depiction of life in the slums of New York City, the novel was so frank and shocking that Crane was unable to find a publisher. He eventually borrowed money and published it at his own expense, but despite praise by a number of writers and critics, the book did not sell.

Crane continued to write, however, and in 1895 he published a second novel, The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the Civil War. A psychological exploration of a young soldier's reactions under fire, the novel was a success and earned Crane international acclaim at the age of twenty-four. Readers and critics applauded the book for its realistic depiction of Civil War battles. Surprisingly, Crane had never observed military combat. Before writing the novel, however, he had interviewed Civil War veterans and studied photographs, battle plans, and the biographical accounts of military leaders.

Crane soon had the opportunity to view the realities of war firsthand, when he served as a newspaper correspondent during the Greco-Turkish War in 1897 and the Spanish-American War in 1898. His observations convinced him of the accuracy of his depiction of war in The Red Badge of Courage and provided material for War Is Kind (1899), his second collection of poetry. Crane's experiences as a correspondent also took their toll on his health. During the final months of his life, his physical condition rapidly deteriorated, and he died in Germany shortly after the turn of the century.

Like other Naturalists, Crane depicted characters that were manipulated by forces of society and nature that were beyond their control or understanding. In his best works, he explored humanity's quest to find meaning in a universe that at times seems hostile and meaningless.

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