The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
read: circa 1996
Guardian 1000 Novels
I read The Red Badge of Courage for sophomore English class in high school. I remember one question on the test. There's a scene in the novel after Henry, the main character, flees from a battle in fear. As he is walking along he throws a small rock at a squirrel which darts off, making Henry feel better about his cowardice. After all, he rationalizes, isn't fleeing from danger a natural reaction for living creatures? One of my classmates, when asked to analyze this passage, wrote only "The squirrel did not want to die." Mr. Carta gave him one point partial credit for that answer. I feel that was a bit generous.
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