Stephen Crane's "Mystery of Heroism" is a story about war. There are a lot of stories about war, but this one is quite unlike most. And unlike a lot of war stories, this is not a story about the glory of war, or how everything turns out okay against all odds, but a story about the bleakness of war.
Let's start by looking at the setting. The soldiers are described as having "dark uniforms [ ] coated with dust", the beauty of a little meadow is scarred by "the grey form of a house half torn to pieces", and the cannons make "red streaks as rounds as a log" in the sky. This gloomy setting is aided by the sounds that are described. Like the "sound of some stupendous shuffle, as if two animals of the size of islands were fighting", like "the noise which resembled the slapping of shutters during a wild gale of winter", or like "these futile cries, wrenched from him by his agony.".
Now, let's take a look at what this story's about. It's about a man, Fred Collins, who's a soldier in a conflict between two unknown powers. This Fred Collins gets thirsty, but since the well is on open terrain, it's very dangerous to go there. But, pushed by his comrades and his own determination, he goes out, gets a bucket full of water, and runs back behind friendly lines. The bucket soon is spilled by his fellow soldiers.
As Fred is walking across the open ground, there is a big section devoted to his thoughts about whether he's a hero or not. These thoughts added to the act of him getting water from open ground, make sure that the readers view him as such. But why is this so important?.
Seeing Fred as a hero, and thus his acts as heroic, gives you hope. You read all this and it makes you think that there are good things in war, heroic things in war. That war isn't all that terrible, and that this story could have a good ending. Then, of course, the bucket is spilled by clumsy comrades, which reinforces the bleakness of the story.