The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage Summary

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane is a landmark American war novel. It follows Henry Fleming, a young Union soldier in the Civil War, as he struggles with fear, shame, and courage in the face of battle. A vivid psychological portrait of warfare, the novel is noted for its realism and impressionistic style.

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The Red Badge of Courage Excerpt

Short Summary: In this Civil War classic, young Henry Fleming must face the terror of battle, the fear of cowardice, and the deep craving for a wound—a red badge—to prove his valor.

"The youth had heard grown men talk about war as if it were a pageant. He had imagined heroes and banners, glory and victory. But now that he was marching, the air thick with dust and the smell of sweat, fear crept into him like smoke into a hollow log."

He looked at the faces around him—boys really, like himself. Some smiled nervously, others muttered prayers. The forest ahead swallowed sound, and even the birds seemed to have fled the dread of gunpowder.

"Would I run?" he wondered. The thought came unbidden, shameful. The earth trembled with distant cannon. When they reached the clearing, muskets cracked like splitting wood, and men dropped like bundles.

And Henry ran. Not toward glory, but away—from the noise, from the horror, from the awful realization that the stories had all lied. There was no beauty in war—only chaos, pain, and the urge to survive.

Later, wandering among the trees, Henry saw a corpse beneath a bush. Its eyes, dull and fixed, seemed to mock him. He covered it with leaves and wept—not for the dead man, but for himself.

When he rejoined the ranks, he bore no wound. But the fire in his mind was deeper. He would fight again, but now with grim knowledge. His red badge would be a scar unseen by others, borne within.