Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Red Badge of Courage: Stephen Crane

By Samuel Potter: 10/27/07

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane is the story of a young Federal soldier named Henry. The lad is excited and impatient to join in the fray but wonders how he will behave in the heat of battle. When Henry’s company finally engages the enemy he at first fights courageously, but when he realizes that the worst of the battle is yet to come, he ingloriously skedaddles. Afterwards, Henry feels guilty about his cowardice and is fearful of what his comrades might think of him when they discover that he has been a coward. As he is retreating from the battle Henry falls in with a group of wounded soldiers. Henry envies these men because their wounds are signs of the courage that he covets: the red badge of courage. “The youth” has another chance to redeem himself, a chance which will ultimately show his true colours as a coward or a hero.

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