The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Summary:
This book takes place in the civil war, and it starts off with a Union regiment resting along a river bank where they have been camped out for awhile. Theres a tall soldier named Jim Conklin and he spreads a rumor that the army will soon march. Henry Fleming is a recent recruit to the 304th Regiment, and hes fears that he doesn't have a lot of courage and that if he sees battle he might run away from it. Henry joined the army because he was always drawn to the glory of military conflict,and ever since he was recruited, hes been waiting for engagement. Finally his regiment is given orders to march and they spend several days traveling on foot until they finally reach a place where they can hear a distant roar of conlict. Just as they secure their position, the enemy attacks. Henry is boxed in by all of his fellow soldiers and relizes that he couldn't run away even if he wanted to. The blue (Union) regiment ends up defeating the grey (confederate) soldiers and they congatulate each other. Then Henry wakes up from a nap and realizes that the enemy is charging again, he gets scared and ends up fleeing from the fight, He feels that he did the right thing because they would never have been able to win, and that everyone that stayed to fight were fools. He later passes a general on horseback that says that his regiment held up against the enemy. Now he feels really cowardly. He continues to wander and eventually meets up with a column of wounded soldiers. Henry feels that a wound is like a "red badge of courage", like proof of courage. He walks with these men for a while and then he meets back up with Jim Conklin and promises to tale care of him. But then they hear the roar of combat again and this time Jim runs from the line and into a grove of bushes where Henry watches him die. Then Henry continues walking with a wounded man who is asking Henry what his wound is and Henry can't stand to answer his questions so he leaves him to die. Henry then proceeds close enough to the battlefield to watch what is happening and he sees a blue regiment retreating and he tries to stop the to ask what is going on. One of the soldiers hits him in the head with his rifle and opens up a bloody gash on his head. Then a soldier leads Henry back to his regiment camp where he meets up with one of his friends, wilson, who thinks he got shot in the head so he takes tender care of him. The next day the regiment goes back out and Henry fights like a lion, venting his rage about Jim Conklin on the enemy soldiers. Then the regiment's color bearer falls and Henry picks up the flag and continues to fight with it. They end up winning the battle and as they march back to their position Henry reflects on his experiences. He feels guity for running away theother day and for leaving the wounded soldier to die. But he eventually puts it all behind him and is able to look forward to peace and the strong manhood within him.

Review:
I thought that this was a very good book. It had a lot of action in it which i enjoyed, but it also had a lot teachings in it, about how you have to stand up to your fears and that running away from everything that your scared of, isn't going to make things any better. If you stand up to your fears your going to feel good about yourself afterwards. I would deffinatley recomend this book to anyone who enjoys war or life teachings.

Quote:
"His self-pride was now entirely restored. In the shade of its flourishing growth he stood with braced and self-confident legs, and since nothing could now be discovered he did not shrink from an encounter with the eyes of judges, and allowed no thoughts of his own to keep him from an attitude