I've recently
read Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage.
A novel which follows the character Henry Fleming's
experiences through his first battles of the Civil War. Like
DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe and Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur's Court, it is a classic of literature.
The story is populated with men
more attentive to the
war than to themselves, and young men more attentive to themselves than
to the war. Henry is of the latter group. He is aware of his own
heroic notions; "He had burned several times to enlist. Tales of great
movements shook the land. They might not be distinctly Homeric, but
there seemed to be much glory in them."1
And he has doubts as to his ability to live up to
these notions; "He lay in his bunk pondering upon it. He tried to
mathematically prove to himself that he would not run from a battle."2
This is the essential story of the book. How will
Henry fare, physically and emotionally, the troubling experiences of
this war.
Besides humor or heroics is Crane's view of his
story.
Crane is less opinionated and more of a revealer of subjects to be
opined upon by the reader.
When Henry expresses about battles, ". . .there
seemed
to be much glory in them."3, it is up
to the reader to reflect on what
that might mean; good, bad, true or false etc.. Crane, himself, does
not judge Henry.
Crane is mostly consistent and uniform.
He is even-handed, not judging the characters as good
or
bad, not juding the war as good or bad. He puts the characters into
actions
without judging their
decisions. One event in the
book has a soldier telling doubtful comrades of the regiments plans.
"'Well, yeh kin b'lieve me er not, jest as yeh like. I don't care a
hang.' There was much food for thought in the manner in which he
replied. He came near to convincing them by disdaining to produce
proofs. They grew much excited over it."4
I can image Crane telling the reader the exact same thing about this
book, and the reader admitting to, 'Yes. There must be someting too it.'
One criticism I have is that, at the very end of the
story Crane does step from observer to promoter. A promoter of battles
as a noble, even invicible, form of maturation. About Henry Fleming,
Crane writes; "With this conviction came a store of assurance. He felt
a quiet manhood, nonassertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He knew
that he would no more quail before his guides wherever they should
point. He had been to touch the great death, and found that
, after all, it was but the great death. He was a
man."5 I have no doubt that battles
make a person grow,
but I think that; ". . .a store of assurance. . .", ". . .no more quail.
. .", ". . .the great death. . ." and the like are, accolades which
make
a caricature of Henry. Crane may have written this purposefully;
sarcastically embellishing war's dignity. But, again, it is up to the
reader to decide.
The first 3/4's of the book can be slow but
interesting, while the last quarter is fast paced and engaging.
Basically the book is about soldiers
. Not modern soldiers with modern weaspons but
universal soldiers, living and learning essentially the same lessons,
from generation to generation. The Red Badge of Courage is like a
fond antique coin from the 1800's, worth more than it's face value.
1Stephen Crane, The
Red Badge of Courage,
www.americanliterature.com, Chap. 1
2Stephen
Crane, The Red Badge of Courage,
www.americanliterature.com, Chap. 1
3Stephen
Crane, The Red Badge of Courage,
www.americanliterature.com, Chap. 1
4
Stephen Crane,
The Red
Badge of Courage,
www.americanliterature.com, Chap. 1
5Stephen
Crane, The Red Badge of Courage,
www.americanliterature.com, Chap.24