The Red Badge of Courage 309The two youths then face two responses to their
actions in this battle, the first negative and the next
positive. The general is overheard telling the lieu-
tenant that the unit did not go far enough, quickly
deflating the pride that both Henry and his friend
Wilson are feeling. Not too much later, however,
one of the other young soldiers reports hearing the
general specifically single out the heroic actions of
these two in carrying the war emblem and leading
the group. Their pride again swells.
The events of this book take place over a few
days, and at the end Henry Fleming thinks himself a
man. He replays all his feats in his head, dwelling on
those that make him heroic and “viewing the gilded
images of memory.” He reaches the conclusion that
he has come of age: “He had been to touch the great
death, and found that, after all, it was but the great
death. He was a man.”
Some critics argue that this youth truly grew into
manhood during the few battles, and others argue
that at the end of the book he is still immature, that
he is only building his heroism in his mind and is
still guided by the opinions of others. While Henry
has experienced war and he bursts with pride at the
reports of his courage under fire, he pushes aside the
nagging thoughts of his earlier cowardice as he basks
in his accomplishments.
The question of Henry’s maturity hinges not so
much on how he has performed in this battle as how
he will perform in the next and the next and how he
will treat his fellow soldiers who need his help. He
had deemed Jim Conklin heroic from the beginning,
and he wondered about Wilson, who gave him a let-
ter to send home if he did not survive. What Henry
does not understand is that all the young soldiers
were probably as unsure as he himself had been.
Although he now seems secure in his own idea
of manhood, Henry may simply be using the same
immature reasoning that he has displayed all along,
since he still judges himself more by what is said of
him by others than by what he thinks himself. A
truly mature soldier, a real man, would probably be
concerned with more important issues, such as the
cause for which he is fighting and the well-being of
his fellow soldiers.
Joyce Smith
HerOism in The Red Badge of Courage
When Stephen Crane wrote The Red Badge of Cour-
age, he had never experienced war. Today, however,
veterans of war testify to the truth of the novel’s
psychological realism. The reason, perhaps, is the
struggle any soldier must face when he is thrust
into battle: He must confront his own fear. Henry
Fleming, the protagonist, does just that, but his fear
is complicated, a question of which he fears most:
dying or being judged a coward.
Henry’s ideas of war are based on reading classics
about Greek and Roman battles or hearing stories
from current veterans, sources that seem to have
emphasized heroism. Even as he is leaving home,
Henry is disappointed that his mother says “nothing
whatever about returning with his shield or on it.”
Her more practical advice of always doing what is
right is soon forgotten, and the regimental members
on the train to Washington are hailed as heroes:
“The regiment was fed and caressed at station after
station until the youth had believed that he must be
a hero.”
When the young recruits hear rumor after rumor
of impending battle, Henry longs to prove himself
even as he tries to quiet his own doubts about his
courage: “He tried to mathematically prove to
himself that he would not run from a battle.” Once
in battle, he functions merely as a member of the
group. In the crush of humanity, he sees that flight
is not possible, and he congratulates himself on
fighting bravely. He believes that he has passed a
“supreme trial” and that any “difficulties of war had
been vanquished.”
This glamour of war and heroism is soon under-
cut, however, by the grisly sight in the woods of a
corpse with unseeing eyes staring at him as ants run
over the dead man’s head. Shortly afterward comes
the dramatic death of the tall soldier, Jim Conklin,
who had seemed the calmest, most heroic of the
young recruits.
Soon Henry despairs of ever being heroic him-
self: “He now conceded it to be impossible that
he should ever become a hero.” Then, as others
are frantically retreating, Henry joins the flight. A
wounded “tattered soldier” tries to help him, but
Henry angrily refuses aid, afraid of being found out
as a coward. As he flees from the wounded soldier