The short story "The Red Badge of Courage" by
Stephen Crane is about a man who just joined in the military. He is fighting in
the Civil War for the Union. The man’s name is Henry Fleming and the regiment
that he has just joined has not done any fighting yet since he has joined. All
that he has done so far is sit around and wait for the order to move. There
have been rumors spreading that they are going to move soon and fight soon, but
no official orders have been given. While he is sitting around Henry thinks
about how good of a soldier he will be in battle and if he has the courage in
him to fight. He fears that when the time comes, he will be a coward and run
away. Finally, his regiment is called to fight. The first time that Henry
fights, he feels like he is “ a cog in a machine”. He finds that even if he
wanted to, he would not be able to run because he is packed in by all the other
men in his regiment who are fighting alongside with him (Crane). The next time
that his regiment is called to fight, Henry remembers the fear that he had in
his last battle and he flees before it is too late. While he is running through
the woods, he sees many wounded soldiers, even some who have familiar faces. He
is jealous of these soldiers and their wounds because he feels that these
wounds are “badges of courage” (Crane). He feels very guilty for leaving his
regiment to fight without him, and regrets running. His regiment wins the battle
without Henry and he is ashamed of himself. Henry watches the battle from a
distance and when the other regiment is abandoning the battle, a soldier
accidently hits Henry on the head with his gun, causing him to have a huge
wound on his head. Henry pretends that his wound is a gunshot so that he does
not feel like a coward. Stephen Crane and Ralph Waldo Emerson share the
philosophy of freedom. Ralph Waldo Emerson writes about freedom a lot and I
think that Stephen Crane also liked the idea of freedom because he wrote about
a regiment fighting for the Union, which is the side that wanted to abolish
slavery.
BibliographyCrane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. London: Penguin, 1994. Print.
