The reader sees repeated use of images of nature, particularly color images, to make the various settings in the novel more vivid. Examples include, "The clouds were tinged an earthlike yellow in the sunrays and in the shadow were a sorry blue" and the flag was "sun-touched." Crane also uses clouds as a symbol for the confusion produced by war.
In Chapters 11 through 13, Crane creates graphic images by combining colors with concepts, settings, attitudes, and individuals. For example, Henry experiences "the black weight of his woe"; he is both "a blue desperate figure" and "a blue, determined figure"; he fantasizes that he "stood before a crimson and steel assault"; he "soared on the red wings of war"; the army was "a blue machine." Battlefield examples include "blue smoke," "blue haze," and "pink glare," and war is described as a "red animal." Evening is described in terms of "orange light," "purple shadows and darkness," and "a blue and somber sky."
Crane's color imagery creates significant contrasts between dark and light, death and life, and drab and colorful. For example, the faces of the sleeping men are "pallid and ghostly"; Henry confronts a "black and monstrous figure"; the campfires gleam of "rose and orange light"; the leaves of the trees were "shifting hues of silver with red"; and "the stars [are] lying, like glittering pebbles, on the black level of the night".
In Chapters 17 through 19 Crane makes use of color imagery to bring the battle alive visually. The rifles being fired released "beams of crimson fire," and "the blue smoke-swallowed line curled and writhed like a snake stepped upon". The reader also sees the regiment face "yellow flames" and "yellow tongues" (rifle fire), "crimson fury" (cannon fire), and "a blue haze of curses" (the lieutenant's exhorting his troops to cross the clearing).
