A Mystery of Heroism

Do the intent of your actions

affect your level of heroism?

How does Stephen Crane specifically use imagery to shape his writing and comment on war?

How does one obtain the title of being a hero?

• The war is not romanticized and Crane criticizes the Romantics’ view of war as a heroic scene in which people die bravely to save something valuable to them.
• The character is more important than the plot or ongoing action; events are not dramatic
• Fred Collins is characterized realistically as an ordinary guy and soldier. Although he is the protagonist, he is never described as a hero or anything other than what is realistic. (imperfect, fearful, unsure, and acts blindly on instinct rather than reason)

• Fred Collins is driven more by instinct than reason when he sets off in his quest.
• There is a conflict between man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. self.
• There is a focus on war violence in the plot.
• The narrator is detached, third-person limited.
• The soldiers are portrayed as animals.
• Aspects of nature, such as grass, are personified in a highly grotesque way that makes them seem alive and murder victims of the war.

Do insignificant outcomes negate a heroic attempt or journey?

Short Story Unit

"

A Mystery of Heroism

by Stephen Crane

The winners are....

PSYCH! There are actually no winners, no prize, and no extra credit all along!

Crane's ironic ending leaves readers to ponder whether an insignificant outcome should negate the willingness a hero takes

Does not receiving the extra credit you all desired and fought for discredit the journey you took to obtain it? Is it truly about the result you end with or about the path you take?

So what do you think about the questions Crane explores?

Do the intent

of your actions affect your level

of heroism?

Do insignificant outcomes negate

a heroic attempt

or journey?

How does one obtain the

title of being a hero?

-Crane leaves the story very open ended, intentionally to portray the ambiguity of heroism.

Plot: Collins reaches the camp, much to the surprise of his comrades. The bucket is passed around but then suddenly drops to the ground empty

Theme: We cannot truly define a hero. Heroism is much more complex than the preconceived notions we tend to have.

“He wondered at this, because human expression had said loudly for centuries that men should feel afraid of certain things, and that all men who did not feel this fear were phenomena-heroes”(5).

-Collins goes through all that trouble, but in the end, what he desired and ventured out for was not a success

-Collins' personal revelations in the story are Crane's way of questioning one's former assumptions on heroes.

-The story essentially depicts how a hero cannot be quantified by a set of certain characteristics or actions. Heroism is just not that simple.

-All Collins is thinking about is reaching the camp safely. Fear for his life makes him run past the officer at first.

Plot: As he runs back to the camp Collins is stopped by a dying soldier who asks for some of his water. He denies the soldier, but comes back and splashes some on his face.

(last confrontation with courage)

"A Mystery of Heroism" is exactly what the title suggests: it questions what heroism really is and explores what it means to be a hero.

-Though his change of heart is very abrupt, we see how Collins' guilt caused him to turn back = first action of his that we can deem "heroic"

Theme: Crane criticizes war and how it dehumanizes us.

• He mocks that war only leads to mindless killing and useless deaths
• Through his constant and brutal war imagery, Crane makes readers question whether or not the suffering and hardships of war are really worth it

Protagonist Fred Collins

Identify a specific passage that portrays how Crane views war and reveals the theme of the pointlessness of war.

This ultimately makes us question whether Collins is valiant for risking

his life to obtain something he wanted, or foolish for only acting upon peer pressure.

Style/Literary Devices

• Personification of war machines
• Symbolism of water
• Vivid war imagery
• Descriptive setting

-His comrades harass Collins and

question as to how he will get to the well

Plot: The importance of Collins deciding to get the water was based on the underlying motivations of peer pressure

(first confrontation with courage)

-Water was not necessarily needed: he was not dying of thirst

-large shift from war

imagery to conscious reflection within Collins

Plot: Collins wonders about

heroes as he crosses the

territory to the well.

(second confrontation with courage)

Realism

-he internally questions if he can be considered hero since he does not feel fear, but is disappointed that someone as common as him

could be a hero

Naturalism

Historical Context

• Social Darwinism
• Industrialization
• Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" is considered the FIRST work that presents first non-romanticized view of the Civil War

Should "A Mystery of Heroism"

be categorized as a realist or naturalist work?

We generally make judgements on how heroic a deed is based on whether it was personal, whether we could empathize with the situation, and whether the person worked for the emergency services or not.

A clear difference in ratings was evident when a scenario had a successful outcome and

people were rescued.

(Ex: Scenario 2)

HOWEVER...

Heroes = people who save people from danger or harm and stop destructive forces.

These preconceived notions and definitions of heroism are exactly what Stephen Crane mocks in "A Mystery of Heroism!"

A clear difference in ratings is evident based on the perception between professionals versus civilians. (Ex: Scenario 2)

Heroes = more admirable when the person is a common citizen

How do we generally perceive heroes? What usually determines whether an action

is heroic or not?

Scenario #1

A police officer spots two young men trying to steal a car. He goes over to stop the burglars, but as a result is stabbed with a screwdriver.

Were his

actions a risk worth taking?

How heroic was the police officer?

Rating "Heroic" Actions

1. How heroic were the person's actions?

2. Were their actions a worthwhile decision?

-Base your scores for each scenario on a scale of 1-10. (10 being most heroic/risk worthy, 1 being least heroic/risk was not worth taking at all)

-Consider all parameters of the scenarios given. (who the hero is, ultimate outcome, motivation)

Pre-Assessment

2. How would you describe what does not make a "hero"?

(characteristics, examples, personality traits)

Pre-Assessment

Scenario #2

An accountant comes home from work and sees a large cloud of grey smoke engulfing his neighbor's crumbling, burning house. He hears the distressed cries of his neighbor's children. He rushes inside and rescues their two kids and baby.

1. How would you describe what makes a "hero"?

(characteristics, examples, personality traits)

Definition to Action

How heroic were the accountant's actions?

Now that we have a preconceived definition of what a hero is generally qualified as, we are now going to discuss what actions encompass a hero.

Were his actions a risk worth taking?