Crane, Stephen The Red Badge of Courage. London: Puffin, 2009. 205 pages. In The Red Badge of Courage, a young solider, Henry Fleming, reflects on what will become of him when he gets to battle—will he run or will he stand and fight bravely? He enlisted because he wanted to be a hero, like the warriors of the Greek epics. His mother, however, was not interested in such notions of bravery, and she discouraged Henry from enlisting. She denied him a goodbye when she learned of his enlistment, and she told him to go with his feelings should he find himself in a situation. Days later, Henry’s regiment marched with other Union army regiments. During this time, Henry’s thoughts are mixed and distracted. After he passed a corpse for the first time, he believed his regiment was being lead to their death, but they soon faced an actual conflict. After a raging battle, Henry felt satisfied that he had overcome the trials of war. However, the Rebels attacked again. During the second battle, Henry dropped his weapon and ran. He ran into an open field after he passed through a forest, and he came upon a group of wounded soldiers. Henry saw that one of his friends, Jim Conklin, was one of the wounded men; Henry tried to help him, but Jim ran away and soon died. Henry continued wondering and encountered mass chaos. He was hit on the head with a rifle, and a nice man helped him return to his regiment. Upon his return, Henry believed he would have harsh words awaiting him because of his flee, but no harsh words awaited Henry. His friends and fellow soldiers bandaged his wounds, and they did not question him. During the next battle, Henry fought as if he were crazed, and the other men looked at him with curiosity. Later that day, Wilson and Henry overheard a general and his staff’s discussion that their regiment of “mule drivers” were going to charge at their enemies. Wilson and Henry returned to their regiment, and they did not tell anyone what they had heard. The charge began, and Henry and the 304th regiment caused the enemy to retreat. They were greeted with cheers from veterans and higher officers when they returned. However, it was not over yet because the battle began again. The 304th regiment was victorious again, and they also took in four Rebel prisoners of war.
Henry felt a sense of pride upon walking away from the regiment. He now saw his previous thoughts on war and battle as silly. He was then changed into a man. The Red Badge of Courage, was first published in 1895 and has not been out of print since. Stephen Crane was only 24 years old when he wrote The Red Badge of Courage, and he died from tuberculosis at the age of 28. What made Crane’s novel so remarkable is that he was born in 1871, just shortly after the Civil War was over, which allowed him to question Civil War veterans and obtain stories of their time spent in the war. Crane recreated a detailed story that many believed, and they assumed that he was also a Civil War veteran himself, but Crane was just an ordinary man. Since Crane was so young when he wrote The Red Badge of Courage, readers are allowed to see the war through a young man’s eyes. Therefore, youth are able to understand his novel and relate to it more than other novels—although there are no pictures, maps, or charts present. They are able to feel emotional and physical distress of war and battle rather than just reading it from a textbook. The thoughts and feelings of Henry Fleming are relayed, but not those of the other characters which leads this novel to be told from the third-person limited omniscient point of view.
Stephen Crane’s novel exposes youth to some cruelties of war, overcoming obstacles, and gaining courage and confidence The internal battle of the main character, the war around him, the fear, and the courage all contribute to this novel which makes it a great read for anyone. I would highly recommend The Red Badge of Courage to anyone looking for a good read.