The Red Badge of Courage by Steven Crane is a pretty interesting book. When I read this short book, I really didn't know anything at all about it so I had very little idea of what to expect. As it turned out, this book was actually quite interesting. It certainly did have an excellent message to it.
Obviously given the title, the major theme of this book is courage. As the protagonist, Henry, learns how to behave on the front lines of The Civil War. In the first skirmish Henry participates in, he sees the enemy coming and he does not believe that they can be stopped so he runs away. When he runs away, Henry runs into many other Union soldiers fighting on different fronts and he realizes that others are not fleeing but rather fighting till the last breath. Henry is quite shamed when he realizes that he is a coward. He realizes that it would have been better to die than to run away. He sees wounds received in the line of duty as "red badges of courage" and he realizes that they really are evidence of courage and they are preferable to running. Eventually Henry returns to his men and fights alongside them again, but now he is fearless as the enemy comes. Rather than fleeing Henry became the most courageous of the men there.
Undoubtedly the theme of this book is very good. Courage is something that everyone needs to learn to understand. I would definitely recommend this book to a somewhat older crowd because many younger children would neither understand nor enjoy a lot of the symbolism in this book. This book is also a little gruesome for younger children. I cannot say that I loved this book, but it was a pretty good read with a great message.
Recommending that you get out there and read it,
Jodath
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