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The Red Badge of Courage And Four Stories (Signet Classics)

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Stephen Crane's classic novel, "The Red Badge of Courage" is as much about what goes on in the mind of a young soldier as it is about the military action taking place. Henry Fleming goes off to fight, having overblown illusions of a spectacular, mythical epic rather than of the reality of a horrible, brutal war. What he had hoped would be a grand, romantic sendoff by his mother fell short of his expectations. When he gets involved in his first battle, Chancellorsville (which historically was a crushing defeat for the north) he has fears that he might get scared and run. These fears are realized and the novel deals with his efforts to hide his act of cowardice from the rest of his regiment and, to redeem himself. He is a afraid of every question asked of him and distrusts the meaning of statements that are made since he knows what he did and is concerned that his fellows do too. For example, when he talks about the earlier events of the battle, a fellow soldier replies that he is talking as if he fought it by himself. It was an offhanded comment but, to Henry, it took on great significance as he wondered what the soldier meant. Did he in fact know that Henry cut and ran and was, in fact making a pointed statement? Ultimately, the question is whether Henry can become a hero and achieve redemption.

Crane was a very young man when he wrote this novel but, he had mature insights into what makes the human psyche tick. Also, he had a good undrstanding of the battle at Chancellorsville and what went on at the minds of soldiers in the battle. For example, Fleming's regiment was holding off a frontal attack by Lee's troops not realizing that this frontal attack was only a feint. In fact, the real battle was, perhaps, a mile away as troops led by Stonewall Jackson was rolling up General Otis's troops on the left flank. Those in the middle, at times, thought that they were winning the battle because they were focused on what was happening where they were. In a historical perspective, we knew of the disasterous results which were unfolding but, the soldiers in the novel (at a time when there was no communications equipment) saw things on the micro level.

Thye Red Badge of Courage is an American classic and, although I have an interest in the Civil War, I recommend this for all readers who appreciate great literature.

Because the novel _The Red Badge of Courage_ is in so many editions, I'm not going to write a review of the novel per se. There are plenty of opinions out there. Instead, I'll talk about why makes this a uniquely difficult (and yet rewarding) reading experience and what stands out about this particular edition.

Crane's novel borders on stream of consciousness, but instead of being all-but-unreadable like so many efforts at that technique, _The Red Badge_ is so vivid that it feels like a series of beautiful but disparate paintings. Each one individually floors you, but then reflecting back on the book after having read it, you're left with a vague sense of having read something extraordinary but can only back up the feeling with wisps of scenes, as if it were something you dreamt. In fact, summaries of the novel you can read online give much more of a sense of plot than what you experience while reading the book. These summaries often break the story into individual firefights, but when reading, it's often only with hindsight do you realize that combat has begun or ended. This is probably true to life, but it's hard to keep the bigger context in mind when this happens.

This way in which the novel is curiously pleasurable but instantly forgettable comes from how it combines three elements: brilliant psychological descriptions of a young soldier's first encounters with combat; impressionistic images of battle; and dialogue that's spelled phonetically. ("I'm glad t' see yeh! I give yeh up fer a goner.") All of these take a lot of attention, forcing you to focus entirely on the current moment of action. (It also makes the book much harder to read than its short length suggests.)

The introduction probably isn't worth the time. While it doesn't include any spoilers as is so often the case with introductions to classic novels --- though I'm not sure what would count as a spoiler for a novel in which plot matters so little --- it doesn't say much of importance either. It mainly focuses on what its author considers to be the bizarre quirks of Crane's writing style.

The three of the four short stories that accompany the novel, however, are pretty good. `The Upturned Face' is basically an extended image. `The Blue Hotel' is seemingly pointless character sketches until the last couple of paragraphs change the meaning of it all. `The Bride comes to Yellow Sky' feels like source material for the film _High Noon_, which is not a bad thing.

The other story, however, is a truly excellent piece of realism. Entitled `The Open Boat' it kept me thinking to myself, "Yes, that's what it must feel like to experience that." And the suspense borders on painful. The writing is so tight (despite what the person writing the introduction thinks) that it makes _The Red Badge_ feel slightly loose.

The edition also includes some editorial marks to distinguish between different editions of the novel, which is of interest to only a few scholars. This visual clutter, however, is more than offset by the presence of `The Open Boat' story, so I would argue that this edition deserves serious consideration.

The Red Badge of Courage Book Review

The major conflict in this book is when Henry Fleming runs away from his very first fight. This conflict is resolved in a number of ways. The first way is when Henry runs into a clearing and finds a general telling a messenger that Henrys regiment held the enemy back. The second way is when Henry runs into a line of soldiers and they are all wounded, there he realizes that he has not done his part for the Army. The final way this conflict is resolved is when Henry finds his regiment and fights a battle with them.


The two characters I am going to compare and contrast are Henry Fleming and Tobias Macivey. One thing they have in common is that they both have something they are fighting to get back to, Tobias is trying to get back to his family and Henry is fighting to get back to his regiment. One thing that is different about them is that Henry supports the north and Tobias supports the south. I think they would help each other by giving advice to each other when they needed it. One way they would hurt each other is that they both may have different opinions on ways of living.

"The Red Badge of Courage is an action packed book filled with adventure and suspense". The Red Badge of Courage is action packed because there are many battles. It is suspenseful because at any moment the regiment could be in a clearing resting. The next minute there could be a shower of cannon fire raining down upon them. This book is adventurous because there are many twists and turns.




I would recommend this book to someone else. This book is a short read of 130 pages and is great to read if you have some free time. I think teenage boys would enjoy reading this book. It is an inspirational story of how Henry Fleming learns what it means to become a man. It also states that you should do what is best and stick with your friends.


One theme in this book is courage. I can apply this theme to my life in many different ways. The first way is to stick by your decisions and never give up. The second way is to fess up to your parents about something you did. The third way is to stand up for your friends.

The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was a journalist and covered wars in Mexico, Cuba, and Greece. His life was cut short by tuberculosis, the major killer from the mid 19th to the mid 20th centuries (caused by poverty and poor diets). This is his most famous novel. It tells of the thoughts and actions of Henry Fleming, who leaves his widowed mother to enlist in the war. Crane does not mention the economics of enlisting in the Volunteers. The story is generic so it could apply to many battles, and describes the events to the reader. Tales of battle are found in literature from the Iliad to the Song of Roland, but have been displaced in modern times by detective and spy novels, and their analog on television and films.

This novel is impressionistic, it does not go into details much. A writer is less likely to be caught in errors that way. Some say Crane based this book on the stories he heard as a boy, or maybe from the many newspapers and books he read after the war. Young Henry wonders if he will skedaddle in combat. His fear comes true; but his regiment was scattered after the attack and then regathered. Henry got hit on the head, a bleeding wound (the red badge of courage), but rejoined his unit and continues to fight in the next battle. The moral is that failure can be redeemed in the future.

The timing of the publication may have helped to make it popular. Many of the veterans of the Civil War were beginning to die out, and a novel about a 30-year old war would have interested readers. 1893 saw the worst depression in American history (until the Great Depression). The story of a man who falters then succeeds afterwards would provide symbolic comfort for the many suffering from the economic setback. I wonder if Henry's accidental wound was due to Crane's cynicism? In that era more soldiers died from sickness and disease than from combat. In today's world, farming is still the most dangerous occupation.