Symbolism 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.

The drive that Henry does show in “The Red Badge of Courage” is the instinct of survival rather than heroism. However, while the sum of all fears is mortality, Crane makes it evident that one can find meaning whilst dealing with death. For Henry, in his psyche, by the end of the story, the idea of death has now become manageable. He found his

In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry shows immaturity by enlisting in the army and being naïve about the war. Henry explains that since he was young, he dreamed about the war of the bloody battles that the soldiers fought in. He thinks fighting in a war will make him a hero and achieve glory. He enlisted in the army, although his mother opposed the decision. However, when he makes it to the camp, he had to wait many weeks in the camps until he was called up to battle, and he started to doubt his place in the army.

There are several main characters in this story ‘’The Red Badge of Courage’’ first of all Henry, a young soldier fighting for the Union army during the American Civil War. Jim Conklin, Henry’s friend, a tall soldier hurt during the regiment’s first battle. Jim soon dies from his wounds, and represents, in the early part of the novel, an important moral contrast to Henry.Wilson, loud private; Henry’s friend in the regiment. Wilson and Henry grow close as they share the harsh experiences of war and gain a reputation as the regiment’s best fighters.

The Civil War officially started in 1861, yet problems between the North and the South date back as far as the early 1830s. The North was infuriated over slavery after a woman by the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe published her book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stowe's book analyzed the life of a slave in an astonishing and realistic way. It caused many people to join the Union. Then the war began in July of 1861 when a Confederate army met with a Federal army at Manassen, Virginia. Many battles were fought until finally the north was victorious. Slavery was abolished, and the federal government's power was set as supreme power over all the land.

After the first battle in "The Red Badge of Courage", we see how many of the soldiers feel courageous and confident in their fighting abilities. However, this spirit doesn't last long, as the following battle in chapter 6 shakes up their regiment, eventually separating most of the soldiers in the confusion. In the above excerpt, we see how Henry is scared and confused in the face of this persistent enemy. It is hard for him to make out the battle in front of him, which causes further panic and confusion among the regiment. After all, it is scary enough to fight an enemy seen – even scarier to fight an enemy that is invisible. Adding to the confusion of this battle, many of the men in Henry's regiment, including Henry, let their fear overwhelm them, and flee from the battleground.

During war, a soldier's most important support system is his/her regiment. This is a support system that Henry has, then loses throughout this time period in his life. All through the war Henry questions his courage and bravery. He wonders if he will turn and run when death is looking him in the eyes, or if he will decide to stay and do what he came to do; prove that he is a man and can handle even death itself. During battle several soldiers are wounded earning their "red badge of courage" and Henry's confident, Jim Conklin, dies. Here is where Henry's second isolation, the isolation from his regiment, occurs. The soldiers in the regiment feel a certain pride and respectability from earning their "red badge." Henry didn't earn this sense of pride and respectability because of the abandonment of his fellow soldiers. He felt that his assumption was clearly rectified- he was a coward. Henry Fleming seemed to become the virtuoso of separation, individualism, and isolation. The tension is eased after he mistakenly "earns" his "red badge" from a friend.

A symbol is something that stands for something else, such as a concept or belief. Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage is full of various symbols that convey different ideas as it follows the journey of a young man named Henry Fleming who joins the army to fight during war. The title, the red badge of courage, is an obvious symbol; however, other symbols also are important in relating the story. Crane uses several symbols in his novel including flags, corpses, and the red badge of courage to tell the story and create meaning.

The Civil War is a very prominent part of history in the United States of America, and Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage should only be described as just the same. The Red Badge of Courage illustrates a near perfect portrayal of a young soldier’s life and experience, is set in the middle of the great American Civil War, and has themes that will definitely make it a notable piece of writing in one hundred years. The genre, overall plot, and themes found in this novel will certainly make it memorable one hundred years from now.

The Red Badge of Courage is a story of self-discovery. The novel is set during the American Civil War, on multiple battlefields. Henry Fleming is a young soldier fighting for the Union. He first joined the army because he dreams of the glories of battle and performing heroic deeds in battle. Although Henry wishes to be a brave soldier, when in battle, his survival instincts take over, and he begins debating fight or flight. His desire to become a soldier and his instinct to survive introduces the main plot and conflict of the story: During a battle, he runs away. This causes him to see the contradiction in himself and it becomes an emotional conflict for him to solve out the contradiction. Because he is so hung up on the image of the war hero, even though he wasn’t shot at, but hit by a fellow soldier, he lies to his comrades that the wound was a bullet wound. He’s lied once to them about fighting bravely in battle when in actuality he ran away, and he lied again telling them that the head would which he actually got from another soldier was a bullet wound. The climax of the plot occurs when Henry redeems himself at another major battle by fighting bravely and taking up the Union flag when the flag bearer is wounded. He ignores his fears and faces the battle like the hero he’s dreamed of and he overcomes his survival instinct. The resolution happens after the battle is over and Henry survives. He reflects on the decisions he’s made and sees how much he’d

Henry overcomes his concerns of the unknown, but he still lacks courage to talk to the commanders and the leaders of the regiment, which shows his cowardice. Henry has this lack of courage because he felt ashamed. Henry viewed his shame and lack of courage as a burden on other soldiers in the regiment. He felt that the soldiers who had a wound were fulfilled, and he envied him because they had "a red badge of courage" (Crane84) the courage that he lacked. His lack of "a red badge of courage" (Crane84) was short lived when he was shot. Jim Conklin, a man of Henry's first regiment, is

The Red Badge of Courage starts out in the civil war and the main character Henry Fleming talking to his mother about joining the union army. She doesn 't want Henry to join but wishes him good luck anyway. When Henry enlists, he soon finds out that joining the army wasn 't as he expected. He wishes to fight in battle right away but his regiment is only practicing marching and things or that sort. Through the ups and downs of his camp he soon becomes friends with many people, one of which (Jim Cocking) hears rumors about a flanking attack that they will soon be in charge of. Soon enough Henry and his regiment start marching and begin an attack. This is the first battle for e regiment so Henry along with a few other soldiers desert the battle. After Henry walks for a while he meets up with Jim and talks with him for a while before Jim dies. Henry continues his walk when he stumbles upon another deserted union soldier. The two argue and the other soldier hits Henry on the head with the butt of his rifle and causes Henry to bleed. With the help of another soldier, he finds his way back to the regiment by night and gets treated for his wound. Henry tells everyone that he got his wound from battle and no one suspects him for deserting. During the night his friend Wilson cares for him. The next day, Henry is well rested and leads several

What makes The Red Badge of Courage so interesting is the contradictions within the novel. Stephen Crane writes about how brave and honorable soldiers are for fighting, then later writes how most of them tried to run and hide from battle. His original thought, that soldiers are brave, is very pro-war; however, his later writing that the soldiers tried to run from battle, is very anti-war. Most of the cowardly soldiers who tried to run away wind up being heroes in the end. Henry Fleming, the protagonist of the novel, is shown as a coward for the great majority of the book. It is only in chapter 23, when Henry steals the Confederate Flag, is he shown to be brave and honorable. This example is very pro-war, a man who once was considered weak became a hero. However, Crane also writes that war destroyed Henry’s mind. Sure he became a hero, but he could no longer separate himself from his

However in Crane’s fiction novel there is symbolism which connects to the theme. After a battle Henry Fleming looks at the wounded soldiers. Fleming “wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage” (Crane 57). During war soldier are awarded medal or badges for their bravery and courage. This badge that Fleming wish is not an ordinary red badge of courage penned onto a soldier. Henry wishes that he will get a battle wound, which will give him a scare. This scare will show his courage and bravery in battle. Most solider that are shot or wounded they mostly do not survive. Fleming went

The Red Badge of Courage is a novel written by Stephen Crane set in the Civil war which reflects the insight thoughts and war-life of a young soldier. Henry Fleming is the main character of this novel who enlists as a soldier in Union Army. In the novel, Crane prefers to call the main character the youth rather than his name Henry. He is a dynamic character who changes in his behavior. He was self-centered to join the army, then to his concerned about his untested performance in his first battle, and ultimately achieves his goal of courage to fight and has a role as a color bearer in his last battle.