"Cliff Notes - Red Badge of Courage" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

man, follow Jim into a field, where he runs from bush to bush,
looking for a good place to die. Then, his body jerking
horribly, he falls. This scene ends with the most famous line
in the book: "The red sun was pasted in the sky like a
wafer."

The tattered man keeps asking Henry where he's been wounded.
His questions make Henry nervous that he'll be found out. So he
leaves the tattered man--who is badly wounded and needs
help--and goes on alone. Next he encounters some soldiers who
appear to be retreating. Eager to find out what's going on,
Henry grabs one soldier's arm. In a panic, the soldier hits
Henry on the head with the butt of his rifle. Now Henry has a
red badge of courage--except that it came from his own side! A
man with a cheery voice comes along and helps Henry find his way
back to his regiment, where the others welcome him warmly. They
do not question his story, and believe that the top of his head
was grazed by a cannonball. The loud soldier, Wilson, seems to
have quieted down, and he and Henry become good friends. Henry
feels a little superior to him because Wilson thought he would
die in the first encounter, but he gives him back his letters
without rubbing it in.

Henry is still struggling with himself. He's afraid he'll be
found out, but he also feels pretty good, telling himself that
at least he ran away bravely. When the next day's fighting
begins, Henry gets so involved in shooting that he doesn't stop
even when the rebels withdraw. During the next charge, some of
the other soldiers hesitate, and Henry helps the lieutenant urge
them forward. He sees the Union flag falling, and he and Wilson
pull it out of the hands of the dying color bearer. After the
next charge the regiment is criticized for returning to its
lines too quickly, but Henry and Wilson are commended for
bravery. They charge again, they're exhausted, but another
charge is necessary. Unbelievably, they find some remaining
strength and move forward in a frenzy, not thinking about danger
or themselves. They win--Wilson captures the Confederate flag
and they take prisoners.

During the actual fighting Henry had not been thinking about
himself; he acted on instinct, feeling like an animal or a
savage. As the regiment marched away, he began to think about
his experiences. He was proud of his bravery--although it was
nothing like his childhood dreams--and embarrassed by his
desertion of the tattered man. But in the end he realized that
through it all he had become a man. Walking along, he
daydreamed about the comforts of peace as the sun broke through
the heavy clouds.

^^^^^^^^^^