The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane

1. The Red Badge of CourageStephen Crane Menu Introduction Background Discussion Starters

2. The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane

3. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction “He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life— of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep and fire.”

4. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction More than anything, Henry Fleming wants to be a hero. During the Civil War, Henry leaves his family’s farm and enlists in the Union army.

5. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction As the novel begins, Henry’s regiment has been camped for several weeks. The men are impatient: Will they ever see battle?

6. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction Veterans of other battles tell Henry terrible stories about the enemy. Alone in his bunk at night, Henry begins to doubt his daydreams of glory on the battlefield.

7. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction He wonders how he will react in the heat of battle.

8. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction Will he fight bravely, or will he run away?

9. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction Will Henry earn his own “red badge”—a battle wound to prove his courage? More important, will he learn the truth about war—and about himself?

10. The Red Badge of Courage: Background “The real war will never get in the books.” —Walt Whitman

11. The Red Badge of Courage: Background In the years after the Civil War, most popular accounts of the war told an idealized, unrealistic story. Histories and memoirs emphasized the courage and comradeship of soldiers on both sides.

12. The Red Badge of Courage: Background Stephen Crane set out to write a Civil War novel in this spirit: a commercially appealing tale of heroic adventure.

13. The Red Badge of Courage: Background But as he wrote, the story changed into a harsher, more realistic portrait of war.

14. The Red Badge of Courage: Background Crane took details of Henry’s first battle from an actual Civil War campaign, the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville.

15. The Red Badge of Courage: Background More soldiers deserted during the Battle of Chancellorsville than during any other clash of the war.

16. The Red Badge of Courage: Discussion Starters Discuss (1) • What kinds of situations challenge people to show courage? • What would you need to know about a situation before you judged someone else’s courage in facing it?

17. The Red Badge of Courage: Discussion Starters Discuss (2) Desertion has always been considered shameful. During the Civil War it was punishable by death. • Suppose you were a soldier in a terrible battle. What would you do if most of the soldiers around you began to run away? • What would it take to maintain your courage?