The Red Badge of Courage

Henry is immediately overtaken with regret and self-recrimination. He attempts to tell himself that his actions were wise and prudent but counterweighs this effort by imagining the derision of his peers should he return to camp. Self-pity follows, and with that, a sense of anger at the world. Plagued with variable doubts such as these, he wanders more deeply into the woods and away from the site of the battle.

He seems to feel that the forest floor is against him as the sound of musketry begins to fade, yet the more he thinks, the more he takes comfort from nature as “the religion of peace” (37). In seeing a squirrel run from his approach, he notes that it is the nature of animals to run from danger.

Soon, he enters a swamp. Pushing through the mire, he finds an overgrown area that he mentally likens to a church. Within the thicket, he finds the horribly decomposed body of a Union soldier. He contemplates the body for what seems like a long time, stricken with terror. Slowly, he backs away from the place.