The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The journey

Part of the America 1850 reading journey

How it got on the shelf

I first came across this book as a “class reader” in secondary school about 45 years ago. Although I didn’t particularly like it then, and don’t even remember finishing it, it must have made a sufficient impression on me to suggest its inclusion in this journey. Being a little unfashionable now, it was downloaded onto the virtual (Kindle) bookshelf for a modest £2.46 inclusive of “The Open Boat and Other Stories”.

The Review

The main story is set in the American Civil War and relates the early experiences of young Henry Fleming, newly enlisted in the Union army, as he prepares for his first battle. As this approaches he is plagued by doubts over whether he will fight or run when the bullets start to fly. Will he survive unscathed or, like some of the veterans he sees returning from the front, be wounded and sport that ‘red badge of courage’?

It reads longer than its 70 pages, possibly due to its slow deliberate pace, detailed descriptions and use of somewhat flowery and dated prose; although the latter does lend the book a period feel that matches its content.

Through Henry’s eyes we see vividly the soldiers, the army, the fractured landscape, and eventually the fighting. We also experience the disorienting confusion of the battlefield and Henry’s emotional turmoil that accompanies it.

This main story justifies its reputation as a defining novella of the American Civil War; not the politics, nor the military strategies, but how it may have felt to be involved as an ordinary foot soldier caught up, terribly, in this time and in that place.

The other stories continue the themes of comradeship and combat – men against the elements in “The Open Boat”, one on one in “The Blue Hotel”, and Yankee against Rebel in several others. The relationships of the combatants, based on fear, hatred, respect and dependency - especially complex in a civil war - are brought out well.

It was definitely worth returning to and finishing off this time.