The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, combines realism and naturalism to depict the deadly confrontation of men in war. The use of these traits uniquely exhibits Crane’s talent to express characters, to describe setting, and to create a theme. The use of naturalism is quite dominant, but realism is also present and used to great effect. Realism is a common trait shared by all of the characters. The figures in this novel are perceived to be believable with average abilities. These characters are neither epic heroes nor robots. They curse, fight, and argue like real humans in the real world. A common technique pra