How Does Henry Fleming Change In The Red Badge Of Courage

      In The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane explores the theme of courage and heroism in depth. He develops these themes through the main character, Henry Fleming. Henry is a naïve young man faced with the harsh realities of war, in this book, some argue that Henry is transformed into a heroic "quiet manhood" while others see Henry as the same young man who ran from battle in the beginning of the book. I think Henry doesn't change, his heroic status acquired at the end of the book isn't truly him, instead he merely is motivated by fear of dying and being rejected by his fellow soldiers.

Henry fights along with the other soldiers in the first battle, yet he flees from the scene when the second battle ensues. Henry had a confusing opinion about the battles being fought. He believed that the first battle was a sure fire win and that the second battle was a complicated one to win. The battles were both very different.

Henry's is afraid of looking bad and he is worried that he is going to be a coward and run away from battle. Henry wants to be a “man" and be courageous. On the day of his first battle, the tension brought about by waiting for it to begin, gives Henry plenty of time to think and wishes he was back home on the farm with his mom. He begins to feel insecure as to how he will react in battle, “He recalled his visions of broken-bladed glory, but in the shadow of the impending tumult he suspected them to be impossible pictures”.

First, Henry did not flee during the first war out of patriotism for his country. He knew what he was leaving at home and knew he was going to be a part of a major part in history. Uniform on, gun in his hand he wants to come home just like all his brothers beside him and knows the only way out is to fight your best and hardest and win. He wanted women to lust after him and did not want to wreck that dream of coming home, so he pushed through despite how hard it was.

" This for Henry shows confidence with his squadron and can fight the help of brave soldiers and win a war. The book like the movie I liked, a simple book to read and understand with great events and a bit repetitive, this means that almost always mentioned several environments as the smoke of each battle that prevents you from seeing beyond, in all battles mention them, if it is a war it is very easy to see blood, noise, fear but I think I lack more creativity in this aspect, but I recommend it as a book for beginners so that little by little you like books and novels

Vulnerability is exposed when contemplating on what to do. In "The Red Badge Of Courage", a fictional novel written by Stephen Crane is a novel about war. Henry is new to the army and has to undergo many hardships throughout the camp. Such as adapting to the new environment, letting go of home, conquering his fears, and so forth. As time progresses, Henry eventually advances in the army, upping his status. Henry also fights along with the other soldiers in the first battle, but he ends up fleeing the second battle. The reason for this is because Henry ultimately hasn't learned yet how to face his fears. That being said, Henry flees the second battle due to not having confidence, the fear of death, and because the need

It is stated, “ He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member.” This quote shows he was part of something bigger. He was a member of something from which he could not flee since they needed him, just as he needed them. His lapse of selfishness allowed Henry to fight his first battle with honor. However, after seeing many wounded men, Henry could not fight another battle and runs for the hills. The second battle brings on another feeling for Henry. Although Henry feared he would run like a coward during his first battle, Henry actually acts cowardly during the second

“The Youth,” which Henry is referred to as, dreamt of glory in battle and being a hero (Crane 2). That is the reason why Henry enlisted himself; even though he told his comrades he was forced to be in the army. His mother’s farewell speech is ironic because he thought that she would give him a tearful and long speech, but all she really said was to “Watch out, and be a good boy” (4). She does not want Henry to be a hero even though that is what he went to war for. She told Henry that she will be fine if he does not return home. Henry tries to pull off being a confident and good soldier, while in the reality he is very nervous about what will happen in battle. Throughout the novel, he questions his courage and if he would run from battle. At an early battle, Henry continuously fires at the enemy line and feels like he is a courageous soldier. However, soon after this battle, another one erupts and Henry runs from it. This is

Henry felt unhappy that the tale was false and now was more concerned about himself and it leads him to be depressed because he had done nothing for the last few months when waiting to go to war. He comes to the point that he feels like he cannot do anything at all, and can't be the hero he wants to be. He also comes to the point that he finds out that math and science cannot help him in everything, such as determining if he is a coward or not. Having noticed that he cannot determine on math and science to help him find out if he is a coward or not, he decides to go find an opportunity to help him prove if he is a coward or not. Trying to find an opportunity, he tried to measure himself to the other soldiers of his camp and tried to understand what the other soldiers was thinking about. He explains that he also afraid to show the other soldiers his concern about the war. He then thinks about two theories about his own camp as a whole. His first theory is that he believes that all the soldiers in his camps are heroes. However, at some times, he ignored the positive theories he had about them and saw them instead as a wandered someone who is afraid to do something. His emotions about them made him feel strange, especially about the people who talk about the excitement of the battle that is going to occur right in front of their

In The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry Fleming is the main character in the novel. Henry is a young boy who enlisted in the Union army to fight in war. Before going into war his fears gets to him and he starts thinking if he is going to be courageous and fight or if he is going to run. Henry fights along with the other soldiers in the first battle and had a short victory. Short because then the enemy reassembled in which Henry and the other soldiers were caught off guard. A second battle had commenced even though he fought in the first one he fled from the scene when the second battle began. Having fought and won, why would Henry run from the second battle? Henry stays to fight during the first battle but leaves the second battle

In the novel Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Union soldier Henry Fleming fights in his first battle along with the other soldiers, but flees during the second battle. The main reason Henry did not run from the first battle was because he was afraid of what would happen if he did run. The second battle, however, was much more brutal. Henry decided to protect himself and flee much like a great number of his fellow soldiers did.

“Almost from the moment he is struck, Henry starts to set aside his fearful and potent imagination and his reason... The chaos of war teaches the necessity of insensibility. “(DillingHam) Henry’s first notice of change is when he is back at the camp talking to his brothers he notices how changed they have become. He sees that his friends are no longer the outgoing, energetic youths of the day before.

Although there are several different motifs in this novel, two main ones that I noticed are: the idea of becoming a man, or the coming of age, and the constant them of courage. Although the amount of time from the beginning of the book to the end is only a couple of days, the amount of character development within Henry is tremendous. At the beginning Henry is a boy who romanticizes and fantasizes about battles and war, as stated in the first chapter, “He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life - of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep and fire. In visions he had seen himself in many struggles…” (P. 5). But, at the end of the book he is a man who has experienced the real gore and grit of war and as he walks away from the

In the beginning, Henry fears that when the time comes for him to engage in battle, he would flee and run like a coward. Dismissing the thought, Henry “tried to mathematically prove to himself that he would not run from a battle” (Crane 11), he convinced himself that he would in fact stay and fight. However very shortly afterwards, “it had suddenly appeared to him that perhaps in a battle he might run” (Crane 11). After allowing the thought to consume his mind, Henry in fact decides that if the time comes for him to fight, he would run. However when the fighting begins, Henry manages to stick with his regiment although he does not contribute to the battle. After being a witness to the first encounter with the

"Fight or flight?" Readers wonder what Henry will do throughout the first few chapters of the book. Every time Henry asks another soldier if he will stay and fight or run, readers are left wondering what Henry will do when he is faced with a battle. Henry's reaction in the first battle to fight was influenced by how prepared he, and his regiment were prior to the battle, his fear, and his face to face encounters with dead soldiers. Ironically, these same things also influenced his "Flight," reaction in the second battle.