The Red Badge of Courage Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

The Dead Man

After Henry runs away from battle and is in the midst of rationalizing his behavior, he comes across a particularly tranquil spot in the woods:

At length he reached a place where the high, arching boughs made a chapel. He softly pushed the green doors aside and entered. Pine needles were a gentle brown carpet. There was a religious half light (7.18).

Aw. Peaceful, holy, serene… and then… "A dead man [with] eyes […] changed to the dull hue to be seen on the side of a dead fish" (7.20). Oh, and there are ants crawling into its eye sockets and mouth (reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).

This is where Henry comes to realize that nature and the universe have no interest in this dead man, nor do they have an interest in whether Henry himself lives or dies. There is simply nothing out there to help or save him or anyone else. This is a shocking lesson for him, and one that shatters his notions of the way things work.

This is also Crane’s way of introducing the philosophy of "Naturalism" into the novel -- Naturalism says that literature should present human beings objectively, in fact, even scientifically. Naturalists were largely influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution, which places a strong emphasis on biological determinism. Literary Naturalists reject the notion of free will and see humans as controlled primarily by instinct, emotion, and (occasionally) cultural conditions. This idea makes Henry’s behavior more a matter of random and explainable phenomena, rather than a growth toward maturity, or a rise toward heroism, via free choice/decision.

As Henry encounters even more death, he finds that the cessation of life is only an integral part of human existence: "He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death" (24.31). He realizes that regardless of bravery or courage, the world has one plan for all things and that plan always ends in death. Crane loves to imply this idea via images of nature’s beauty contrasted with man’s bloody brutality, and he capitalizes on this paradox many times throughout the novel.

Since Crane was a big believer in Naturalism, he wanted to show that death should not be romanticized, but should be looked at straight on in as dispassionate and scientific a way as possible. The postures and paroxysms and vulnerabilities of dead men make death seem like a very real physical phenomenon, rather than a spiritual departure involving heaven or hell. Henry, too, is affected by viewing the dead. He sees that the dead know no more than he does, and that nothing supernatural happens to them. He also realizes that he could just as easily be among them -- that dying is as random and meaningless as war, or anything else.

Red

So did you notice any mention of the color red in this novel? Maybe once or twice, or fifty two times? Here are a few important ones:"From across the river the red eyes were still peering" (2.11.)."From this little distance the many fires, with the black forms of men passing to and fro before the crimson rays, made weird and satanic effects" (2.34)."They were going to look at war, the red animal –war, the blood-swollen god" (3.30)."Then, upon this stillness, there suddenly broke a tremendous clangor of sounds. A crimson roar came from the distance" (8.2)."At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage" (9.3)."He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle" (24.33).

We’re thinking red has something to do with things that are scary, bloody, dangerous, and war-related. Go find a dozen more references and let us know what you think.

Animal Imagery

And not just farm animals, either. Did anyone else catch those totally creepy dragons that kept popping up everywhere? When Henry looks around in "the mystic gloom," he stares at the "red eyes across the river" and imagines they are "the orbs of a row of dragons advancing" (2.15). Later, in battle, he imagines the enemy as an "onslaught of redoubtable dragons" approaching like a "red and green monster" (6.23). It’s lines like these that set such an eerie tone for Red Badge, and that cause some critics to believe the entire storyline takes place in Henry’s head (see "Setting" for more). Anyway, it’s clear that Henry is demonizing the enemy. This justifies his fear; who expects the kid to go out and slay dragons?

Mythical creatures aside, there’s plenty of mention of the regiment lines moving like snakes, or the men being killed like pigs, or Henry running forward like a dog or fighting like a wild cat. Remember that the instincts Henry is dealing with – self-preservation, fear, all that biology 101 "fight or flight" stuff – are all animalistic in nature. He’s tapping into the core of his being that he shares with snakes, pigs, dogs, cats, etc. Essentially, there isn’t a big difference between men and animals when they’re put into these sorts of life-threatening situations.

Religious Stuff

Crane, who was the son of a minister (but not himself a believer), also uses religious imagery in the novel. The chapter that deals with the death of Jim Conklin (notice his initials), promotes Jim as a sort of Christ-figure who through his painful death helps "redeem" Henry. The final sentence of this chapter ("The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer" (9.54).), is no mere description of nature. In the Christian sacrament of communion, believers eat the "body of Christ" via communion wafers and red wine. Crane seems to be commenting on the concept of men having to die to save other men, whether in war or in spirit. It gets us back to that "part of a larger whole" thing we talked about in the "Why Should I Care." Gosh, almost like a common important thread or something…