The Red Badge of Courage

Rating:
Summary: Bloodbaths
Review: Imagine standing in the middle of a battlefield having to watch your friends suffer and eventually die from bullet shots. This is a typical scene from the Civil War, which had the most loss of American life than any other war. "The Red Badge of Courage" horrifically, yet accurately, depicts the true nature of war. Crane uses excellent imagery to describe what is happening in the mind of the protagonist Henry Fleming, a young soldier. Although the language is somewhat difficult to comprehend because of the dialogue, the story itself is not difficult at all because of the intensity of battlefield and descriptiveness of the scenery. Crane's descriptions make it clear that war is a traumatizing experience for everyone. Although the experience may be disturbing, cowards should not be involved in war, as Henry beautifully demonstrates. While most war stories present heroes of the war, Henry is portrayed as the exact opposite. He starts out as a boy going into war for the first time, and at one point runs away from all the fighting. In time, he matures through experience while facing the horrors of war. He eventually desires the red badge of courage, a wound that would mark his involvement in the war. All history lovers and those who love bloody and gruesome "Braveheart" type stories should read "The Red Badge of Courage."

Rating:
Summary: What would you do?
Review: I don't think this book is an argument for the Union Army or the Confederate Army. I don't even think this has anything to do with the validity of war. I just think Crane does a great job of describing sensory responses in a hostile situation.

Throughout the entire novel, I kept trying to imagine how I would react? Would I have run? I think Crane expects this question, and gives the reader the answer: "You don't know until you're there." That's what I got from this book.

The fact that the characters react to things differently is what I found to be so incredible, because Henry's thoughts and actions are so believable. Throughout the battles, different things trigger his emotions, and they build upon one another as events pan out. He has definately changed by the end of the novel, but the change is smooth. Everything Henry goes through, Crane diligently brings the reader through this realm. The colors and textures, sights and smells just add to the horror of Henry's situation that leaves him trapped inside, and drags the reader along.

Rating:
Summary: An honest look at the Civil War
Review: From what I understand, Civil War reenactments are hugely popular, especially at war sites throughout the South. Participants even go so far as to buy the exact rations (I heard the biscuits are like bricks!), wear authentic uniforms, etc. What a trip! For such people, I highly recommend Courage. It deals with the fear felt by a soldier in a war he did not fully understand. (Who did?) Nation vs. Nation, Brother vs. Brother. God forbid that we would ever again disagree with each other in such magnitude! There are a lot of things I think I would have missed had I not followed along in the Cliffs Notes. It kept me informed as to some deeper meanings. The book is certainly not long, but for me it bogged down in several places. However, I'm glad that I had a chance to experience war through someone else's eyes rather than have to face such a situation in my own life. And to imagine that Crane wrote this book based only on interviews he had with Civil War vets! To me, this is an amazing fact.

Rating:
Summary: Stephen Crane's Civil War masterpiece!
Review: "The Red Badge of Courage," written in 1895 by Stephen Crane (1871-1900), is considered by many literary critics to be one of the greatest of all American novels. This is a book about the Civil War, and one Union soldier's struggle with his inner demons as he prepares for, and fights his first battle.

Although the story Crane tells is deceptively simple, it reveals, better than any other novel I've read, the full horror of war, and the complexity and unpredictability of human behavior in the crucible of battle. Henry Fleming (always referred to by Crane as "the youth") is a young northerner who, despite his mother's objections, enlists in the Union army with great patriotic fervor. As he awaits his first battle, the youth ponders how he will react: will he stand and fight, or will he flee? The answer comes soon enough. His regiment is attacked by the Confederates; at first the youth stays to fight, but, during a second attack, he watches other soldiers run away from battle in a state of panic. He himself is overcome by fear, and he too flees.

The youth finally reaches a state of exhaustion and stops running. Immediately, his conscience begins to gnaw at him. He hears rumors that his regiment has actually stood and won the day against its foe. His thoughts and emotions begin to run the gamut from rationalization, to self-loathing, to fear of being discovered a coward. He continually looks for ways to justify his flight. The youth hears the continuing sound of battle in the distance, and is drawn to it, almost as a moth to a flame; he decides to return to his regiment, but loses his way. As he tries to find his way back to his regiment, he is confronted by people who serve to prick his conscience even further. He witnesses the horrible death of Jim Conklin, one of his friends from his regiment. While walking with a group of wounded soldiers, he is asked by one tattered and probably insane soldier what the nature of his wounds are. Shamed by this inquisition, he runs away, afraid he'll be uncovered as the poltroon he is beginning to believe himself to be. He begins to wish for a "red badge of courage" - a wound - which would signify his bravery in battle. He gets his wish in a roundabout way when he attempts to ask another soldier for directions. He gets into a scuffle and is cut on the head with the soldier's rifle. This becomes his "red badge" when he finally makes it back to his unit; he lies to his comrades-in-arms, saying he received the wound as a result of being shot in the heat of battle.

Ultimately, the youth is afforded another opportunity to prove his courage in battle. How he reacts under fire during this new test of his character and courage is the great climactic event of "The Red Badge of Courage." Henry's behavior reveals the lessons he has learned about himself , and shows how he is able to come to terms with his inner demons and the world around him as a result of those lessons.

Crane's writing is excellent on most levels. His descriptions of the insane violence of battle is graphically intense, and of reasonable historical accuracy. The one noticeable weakness in Crane's style is his dialogue. Although it is raw and gritty, it is also somewhat unrealistic; all his characters sound like they have southern accents, even though they are supposed to be from New York and other northern states. Still, the dialogue is effective in conveying the essential truth of who did most of the fighting on both sides during the Civil War: tough, profane, and often poor and uneducated men, many who did not know of, or care about, the causes for which they fought and sometimes died.

In my view, what sets "The Red Badge of Courage" apart as one of the finest Civil War novels of all time is Crane's brilliant analysis of Henry Fleming's state of mind as he runs away from battle and then attempts to redeem himself. Through Crane's lively pen and sometimes purple prose, I was able to peer into the youth's very soul and understand some of his fears, hopes, intermittent self loathing, and frequent rationalizations, and how those emotions and attitudes drove his behavior during battle. Henry Fleming is certainly not an admirable protagonist! (This may, in fact, have been the first Civil War novel which depicts the central character in less than an idealistic, "knightly" fashion.) He is immature, vain, shallow, and mendacious throughout the book, but is also imbued with an inner strength and the self-discipline which allow him ultimately to triumph over his many character flaws.

"The Red Badge of Courage" is indeed a timeless masterpiece of American fiction. It is easy to understand why it ranks alongside such great American novels as Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," and "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee. "The Red Badge of Courage" is a book to be read and savored!

Rating:
Summary: Yes!!!
Review: A great short work which makes you accpet the fact that nature could care less. Easily viewed as a existential text as well as an anti-war novel. Genius lies in the fact that Crane wasn't born when the Civil War was occurring. Invest the short amount and time that it takes to read this and reap the lifelong reward, the Red Badge of Knowledge of Self and Mankind! What for the use of language, esp. images, and his use of irony.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully descriptive of every emotion.
Review: A young Yankee soldier experiences every emotion on the battlefield, maturing in the process. Extraordinarily descriptive language, easy to visualize. Amazinglyly, Stephen Crane was 29 when he wrote this book and never experienced war.

Rating:
Summary: If you didn't read this in high school...
Review: If you didn't read this in high school, you should have. What motivates an inexperienced soldier faced with the horrors of battle? Images of heroics, shame, primal urge and all the rest pulse through a young man's brain as he struggles with the big question: fight or flee.

Rating:
Summary: Seemed un-interesting at times
Review: The book at many parts is much to mundane and slow moving. Soon you lose interest in the thoughts of Pvt. Henry Fleming. Its an average book in my mind.

Rating:
Summary: symbolism, people symbolism
Review: most of the people who write poor reviews for this book don't seem to entirely understand it. one of them that i happened to read complained about how Stephan Crane used only "the youth" to refer to Henry. this is because Crane is portraying him as something of an everyman, he is stripping away his identity in much the same way as war strips away the identity of its soldiers. i think that if the book was somewhat above above their level of understanding, perhaps they shouldn't be criticizing things that they do not fully comprehend. Personally, i enjoyed the book quite a bit, it really made you feel as if you were in the battle feild, i would highly reccomend it.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Developed War Story!
Review: This book is by no means difficult. I'm in eighth grade and I read this book in no time. However, it is difficult for some people to understand because the format in which it is written is very different than the way that books are normally written. I guess this is one of the things that makes it such a great read. If you don't understand it at first my recommendation would be to slow down and read it slower than you normally read books. If you try and read it too fast you may get confused.

Anyway, this is a great book! It emphasizes what it really means to fight in a war in a very philosophical sense. This book is proof that it isn't all glory to be out fighting on the battlefield with people dieing all around you. Despite claims that some people make, the main character is highly developed. Complaints that the narraration switches too suddenly, seemingly without reason doesn't have to do with Stephen Crane being a poor writer, it has to do with people not fully understanding the development of the main character, Henry Fleming. Henry Fleming's views of life are shared by the narrarator so even though the book is written in the third person you get a sense that it is also first person as well. The development of Henry's views shift through the book and it is very interesting to see Henry's stereotypical tough male views change to meek aloof views and then back again to philosophical views and Henry thinking he is the "alpha male" out on the battlefield. Henry's philosophical views are also very interesting. Crane's writing style kind of reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe's in the way that he switches views suddenly, but once you get the hang of it you can almost expect it.

Lastly, I think that the best part about this book is the way that Stephen Crane is able to convey what it actually means to be out on a battle field, fighting, your comrades dieing by your side, and then really feeling a fear for your life. This is a theme that develops through the entire book and it isn't something you really get unless you think about it and analyze the book... Anyways, I'm rambling now but I would highly recommend the book it you want more than an easy read. After all, having a large vocab and being able to read really fat books doesn't mean that you can comprehen what this book really has to say!