The Red Badge of Courage focuses on the moral world of a young man in the Union Army, Henry Fleming. He has deserted his regiment in the clash and horror of battle, deluding himself with specious arguments of self-preservation, only to discover that his group has won the day. He finds himself among the wounded, and they treat him as though he is wounded himself, which fills him with shame at his cowardice and desertion. He goes back to his comrades, vowing to cleanse himself through bravery in battle. He redoubles his assault on the Confederate foe, grasping the standard of battle from a dying man and carrying it bravely forward. At last, his conscience is clear, and his self-inflicted wound of cowardice has been healed.
《紅色勇氣徽章》（1895年）是一部生動(dòng)的心理學(xué)作品，講述了一個(gè)年輕人在美國(guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中的戰(zhàn)斗經(jīng)歷，這部作品是基于克雷恩對(duì)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的通俗描述。其敘事的強(qiáng)烈性和自然主義的力量使克雷恩獲得了立竿見影的成功，并導(dǎo)致他花費(fèi)了他一生中的大部分時(shí)間來(lái)報(bào)道戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。這本書中收集的其他故事都借鑒了這一經(jīng)驗(yàn)；《敞篷船》（1898年）的靈感來(lái)源于他在古巴遠(yuǎn)征途中沉船后與海浪搏斗了50個(gè)小時(shí)；《怪物》（1899年）是一篇諷刺性文章，講述了一名醫(yī)生為了窩藏仆人而遭到的排斥，這名仆人被毀容并且失去了他的理智來(lái)救他的兒子。
作為美洲哥特式風(fēng)格起重機(jī)的一個(gè)罕見例子，它對(duì)種族和社會(huì)不公的處理尤為引人注目。`藍(lán)色酒店“追蹤導(dǎo)致內(nèi)布拉斯加州小鎮(zhèn)一家酒吧謀殺的事件。這本書是克雷恩作品中注釋最為寬泛的一本，從新的批評(píng)角度對(duì)其進(jìn)行了探索，并著重于他作為實(shí)驗(yàn)作家現(xiàn)代主義遺產(chǎn)以及他的社會(huì)和文學(xué)修正主義地位。
