Unique in style and content, the novel explores the emotions of a young Civil War recruit named Henry Fleming. The most remarkable thing about this classic is that the twenty-four-year-old author had never witnessed war in his life before writing this book. Crane's story developed to some extent from his reading of the war stories of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy and the popular memoirs of Civil War veterans, but he also departed from these influences in his depiction of the horror of war. Critics have noted that his portrayal of war is intensely psychological, blending elements of naturalism, impressionism, and symbolism. Indeed, he separated himself from his American realist contemporaries, including his mentor William Dean Howells, in his naturalistic treatment of man as an amoral creature in a deterministic world. For this reason, critical reactions to The Red Badge of Courage in 1895 were mixed. : Some disapproved of Crane's use of the vernacular - the common jargon of common people and soldiers - and impressionistic technique. Crane also experimented with psychological realism, and his venture into the realm of the human psyche radically changed the common perception of the novel in America. As he faces combat for the first time, Henry experiences an intense range of emotions: courage, anxiety, self-confidence, fear, and selfish zeal. Interestingly, the naturalistic flavor of the play works against this servant-important ego. The individual is not of primary importance, as evidenced repeatedly by the words of Henry's mother, fellow soldiers, and officers. Henry is often referred to rather impersonally as "the young man". The men, inexperienced and untested, are treated like frightened animals against the backdrop of inimitable nature and war. Crane also used color images, both vibrant and muted, to depict the war. He describes a skirmish as a “crimson roar,” for example, and writes of war as “the red beast.” Crane's sense of color pervades the work; note his description of the sky, which remains "fairytale blue" during the day, as if to underline nature's indifference to the ongoing carnage.