The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

I got a little behind because I got a good recommendation on reading Generation Kill by Evan Wright. Wright was embedded with the First Recon Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Excellent book.

But back to the task at hand. Stephen Crane...now this guy could write. The Red Badge of Courage is a short book, but big on action and big on consideration of the mind of someone going to war. The main character, Henry Fleming, is a New York farm boy who joins up with the Union army with visions of glory dancing through his head. At first, he finds that there isn't much fighting to do; it's mostly sitting around camp, eating bad food, and practicing marching drills. But soon enough, his regiment is called into battle. In the first encounter with the enemy, Henry fires his rifle, but soon turns and runs. He's disgusted with himself, but he rationalizes his flight from battle. More than anything, he fears returning to his unit because he doesn't want to be known as a coward. He wanders around the rear of the lines and hooks up with injured soldiers heading back to hospital camps. He's envious of the wounded men, because their wounds serve as a "red badge of courage." After hassling one of the men, Fleming is struck by a rifle butt and cut on the head. When he gets back to camp, he then has a reason for why he left his unit, he says he was grazed by a bullet. And somehow, this wound does give Fleming courage. In the future battles, he's an absolute lion, leading the charge and carrying the flag. After these encounters, he feels that he has truly become a man.

To say that Stephen Crane was an excellent writer is an understatement. The story is gripping. From describing the boredom and rumor-mongering of camp life, to the confusion of battle, Crane puts you in the action. What's more, you feel compelled to continue reading the book...a literal page-turner. The best writing is the frenzy and chaos of battle. The soldiers weren't always sure of why they were attacking an area or why the couldn't retreat to a better position. In modern terms, they didn't have a wide situational awareness. We learn of this when Fleming is out looking for water and he overhears a general giving orders. The general has the wider view of the battle, but in Crane's words, he speaks of Fleming's unit as no more than a "broom." The regiment, to the general, is just a tool to be used to do a job. It's not a group of men who are fighting and dying. In another scene, the unit is trying to retreat, but in the confusion of battle, compounded by the smoke and noise of battle, they don't know which way is the actual way to retreat.

Harder to describe is how Crane puts you into Fleming's thought processes. He gives insight into Fleming's thoughts and emotions during all phases of the story. His boredom in camp; his thoughts on first being fired upon; his fear and flight from battle; his fear of cowardice; and his nearly insane rage and bravery in the later encounters with the enemy.

The Red Badge of Courage is truly a great American book.