The Red Badge of Courage

This story by Stephen Crane is set during the American Civil War. It’s about a young man who runs away during an initial battle, feels guilty, rejoins his regiment and behaves heroically afterwards. I’m not quite sure whether it’s supposed to be ironic (the battle details are quite gritty) or whether it was written as a patriotic pro-war story to encourage boys to join up, but it can certainly be read in both ways; after all, a “badge” of courage which is a death shot in the chest invites multiple readings, surely.

It’s well-written, and the style reminds me a little of Hemingway’s – I suppose it may well have influenced him, or perhaps it’s a particularly American manner of writing, using short, blunt sentences. I find that even American writers today favour that style, although that is of course since Hemingway.

It’s just a fragment of a story – really more a long short story rather than a novel – and it’s effective, in that it’s a snapshot of one person within a larger picture, one person who has a limited viewpoint, and limited understanding. Definitely an interesting addition to literature about war.