Courage in the face of absurdity

Stephen Crane creates intense human drama involving the existential concerns of man in an indifferent universe that does not exclude the possibility of choice. Through the actions of his protagonists, Crane repeatedly questions whether man with his limited perspective can ever harmonize the disparate elements of experience to involve himself authentically in courageous action. The majority of Crane's protagonists prove unable to live without illusion because of their need to pursue the conventional chivalric ideal in order to bolster the egocentric conceptions of their own significance. Crane ironically delineates the futile strivings of these figures who never integrate their life style with reality. [...]