The Glory of Blood

Glory and Honor in The Red Badge of Courage

As a novel of war, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane is one that examines the aspects of glory and honor in war. Although Crane himself was not yet born when the American Civil War ended, nevertheless he wrote a war story that was realistic and compelling. The novel is frank in its depiction of war, centering on the philosophical struggle of one young soldier who runs from battle. Yet the 1951 film of the same name, directed by John Huston, carries with it a different message. The film waves the banner of patriotism and suggests that Crane had written Courage as a testament to the bravery of fighting men and the glory of a country that would be forever united through this great struggle.

In the novel The Red Badge of Courage, the protagonist is a young Union soldier named Henry Fleming. Leaving his mother behind on the Ohio farm, Henry has joined the army to taste the glory of war. The newspaper accounts of "decisive victory" filled him with a desire to be on the winning side of battle. But the Union Army has become a disappointment to Henry. They have become a "blue demonstration" that does not move, but sits encamped for months waiting for the word to march. When that order seems eminent, however, Henry finds himself questioning his own ability in battle. Uncertain if he will run or fight, he struggles with the question and secretly hates the men who seemed unconcerned by the future.

Finally engaged in battle, Henry runs. He heads away from the fighting as fast as his legs will carry him, dropping his gun and his hat behind. As he runs, he begins to examine his response to the fighting and does his best to convince himself that anyone smart enough to see the inevitable outcome would have done the same. He praises his keen senses for having warned him of danger and congratulates himself on survival. But when the news reaches him that his regiment has held back the Confederate assault, he curses himself and his poor luck. The truly blessed, he decides, are those who did not have his keen insight and stayed in the fighting. Through their ignorance, he decides, they have become heroes.

Henry sees more of the war through his flight than any one soldier stuck on the front line would normally see. Through Henry's examination of the fighting, Crane is able to offer the reader a glimpse of the enormity of the war machine and the frightening madness of it all. Seeing a brigade going to the relief of his unit, Henry sees it as if "the brigade was hurrying briskly to be gulped into the infernal mouths of the war god." The war becomes an unrelenting beast, while the image of those who fight varies uncertainly somewhere between supermen and fools.

Nor is Crane's protagonist a hero. In fact, Henry stumbles into an excuse to return to his regiment when a fleeing man hits him in the head with the butt of a rifle. When another soldier helps him to find his regiment, Henry makes up a story that he has been fighting "off to the right" after becoming separated from his unit. The blow to his head is passed off as a bullet wound, another lie to help save honor. When Henry does finally fight, it is an unconscious effort that forces him into battle. He moves forward as if not in control of his own feet. He shoots, because that is what he knows to do. There is no glory in his actions, although when the battle lulls the men praise his courage.

Crane's novel approaches war with bitter irony. The glory that the youth seeks in war is a chimera. By the end of the novel, the horror forces Henry to see that war could never bring him glory - only pain. The war has not made him a man through heroism, but through the realization that war is an ugly thing. He must live forever with his "sin" of desertion, although he tries his best to separate himself from it. As he and the other soldiers march off under cloudy skies, he turns his thoughts toward "an existence of a soft and eternal peace." Clearly, Henry has had his fill of war.

The picture painted for movie audiences in 1951, however, was quite different. In a strikingly awkward opening, the narrator (James Whitmore in an uncredited role) explains the history of Crane's novel and suggests that it is a story of one soldier's quest for glory and the heroic struggle of America to stay united. The film perpetuates the old lie that war is a glorious thing. Although Henry (Audie Murphy) expresses doubts about fighting (as in Crane's novel), the end result is wholly different.

One cannot analyze the film without noting that Henry is portrayed by World War II veteran Audie Murphy. Murphy gained fame as a result of a Life magazine cover that showed him as the most decorated hero of the war. It is not accidental that the studio cast a real war veteran (and celebrity) to play Henry. Doing so merely reinforces the intent of the director to tell a story that glorifies war rather than denouncing it.

The film sanitizes the youth's experience. His observations of the war are overshadowed by his self-doubt and confusion. The audience does not see the grim maw of war churning through the Union forces. Instead, they see an intensely personal struggle that (as would be expected) will be resolved in typical patriotic American fashion. Even the scene in which the tall soldier, Jim Conklin, meets his end is saved the ghastly image of his suffering. Crane's account of Henry's chance meeting with the wounded Conklin is gripping and horrific. One sees through this scene a personal loss. In the film, however, these pages are whittled down to a few short minutes and the suffering (by both Henry and Conklin) is completely absent.

Instead, the film spends a majority of time focusing on the battle scenes. In the midst of chaos, the sounds of war become more important than the visuals. The scenery becomes bleached out because of the smoke on the landscape. Huston paints the enemy as faceless entities, hidden in the smoke of battle. War becomes something mysterious and impersonal.

In the film, there is no irony in his final "glorious" battle. Crane makes clear that Henry's fighting is unconscious and driven by an instinct for self-preservation. In the final battle with the Confederate army, Henry moves forward with the flag only because he thinks that if he crosses the open plane he will be safer. His actions are not glorious or honorable; they are selfish and cowardly. This deeper insight is lost in Huston's patriotic vision, however. The soldiers rally, finding the courage within, and they overcome the horrors of war and bring victory to the Union. This ending is identical to Crane's in word, but not in spirit.

The film tacks on a denouement not found in the original work. After the fighting is over and Henry and Tom have been congratulated for their bravery, Henry makes a half-hearted confession to Tom. He tells his friend that he had run from the first battle, but (apparently unwilling to admit the whole truth) he resorts to his lie about hooking up with another regiment and fighting with them. Tom takes great relief in hearing this confession and admits that he too tried to run, but the lieutenant caught him. More afraid of the officer than battle, Tom stayed and fought. This scene seems an affront to Crane's theme, as if proposing that a "good" soldier will defy his instinct to run. Because Tom survives and ultimately gets commended for bravery, the film suggests that fighting in war is worthy of aspiration.

At another time in history, Huston's film may have been different. In 1951, MGM would not tolerate an anti-war film because the climate in the country, rampant with McCarthyism. Had Huston made The Red Badge of Courage 20 years later - when the country was embroiled in another conflict - he might have found a studio (and an audience) more receptive to Crane's original vision.