The Character Of Athena In The Red Badge Of Courage

Courage is a battle fought on two battlefields. The battle for courage involves the individual’s development ranging from learning to taking care of oneself to becoming aware of others. The battle for courage is reflected in judgment, planning, response, attention, control, and realistic expectation. This creates the theme of man vs self in the use of foreshadowing, irony, and allusion. Crane illustrates this truth in the novel The Red Badge of Courage, a story of a young farm boy, Henry, who is in the middle of the American Civil War facing many challenges, but ultimately overcoming them through maturity.

Courage is when you believe in yourself that you can do anything. Well, In line 270, The Odyssey stated, ‘‘Odysseus was afraid of the cyclops but had the courage to keep moving and he escaped the cyclops cave (379).

Henry Fleming, also known as “The Youth” in the book, was a young soldier heading out for war with excitement and pride. Little does Henry know what awaits him in a war in which brothers fought against brothers and fathers against their sons. How the cruelty of war may take his innocent mind and transform it into something gruesome and horrid in which he may have never expected, yet mold him into a man who can say that he’s seen it all.

Henry's sacrifices lead to the growth of the entire regiment. In one of the battles, Henry's regiment is in disarray due to confusion of war. “In the clouded haze men became panic-stricken with the thought that the regiment had lost its path.”(p. 128) Through the haze, Henry sees the flag bearer die and sprints to grab it. He uses the flag as a rallying point and along with the commander gets the regiment reorganized. By grabbing the flag, Henry makes himself a target for the opposing army, but it allows for him to get the regiment

In the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry has a conflict of individual vs. self as he struggles to mature at first when confronted with the realities of war. We see Henry be mesmerized by the glories of being a soldier but he does not truly understand what it means to be a soldier fighting in a conflict such as the Civil War. He matures and develops throughout his exposure to warfare and understands what it means to be a warrior. This is the central point in understanding why he fights with the other soldiers the first battle, yet he flees when the second battle ensues.

Moving closer to the battle, Henry, the rookie private with a lack of self-confidence and courage, starts thinking if he should run away from a battle or fight in the battle. With a lack of war experience, he feels insecure going to battle and does not know what to do. He starts to ask his fellow soldiers on their thoughts and opinions about running away from a battle as he felt cowardliness of doing so. He also asked one

Imagination is a wonderful way to explore the unknown situations a person has not experienced yet. Henry Fleming imagined a lot in The Red Badge of Courage giving him an abundance of different feelings and consequences. The decisions made due to stress, exhilaration, curiosity, and fear changed the youth in many ways. In the following paragraphs, Henry’s actions and thoughts will be discussed and broken down, giving a possible explanation into why he chose his actions during the first and second battle.

“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

War forces young soldiers to grow up quickly. In Stephen Crane’s Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming is no exception. He is faced with the hard reality of war and this forces him to readjust his romantic beliefs about war. Through the novel, the reader can trace the growth and development of Henry through these four stages: (1) romanticizing war and the heroic role each soldier plays, (2) facing the realities of war, (3) lying to himself to maintain his self-importance, and (4) realistic awareness of his abilities and place in life. Through Henry’s experiences in his path to self-discovery, he is strongly affected by events that help shape his ideology of war, death,

In Stephen Crane’s novel, The red badge of courage, it tells the story of a boy named Henry Fleming. This boy is fascinated in the fact that he wants to join the Union in the Civil war. So one day, Henry decides to make the decision without his mother’s consent. “Ma, I’m going to enlist” (Crane 3). Even though his mother didn’t agree with it, “Henry, don’t be a fool” (Crane 3). He is so excited to get into camp and begin his trek through fighting like a real man. So his mom packs his rucksack and he begins his journey, into the Union Army, as a young soldier doing a man’s job.

While Henry contemplates, the narrator illustrates Henry’s struggle as Henry tries, “to mathematically prove to himself that he would not run from a battle […] [, however,] [i]t had suddenly appeared to him that perhaps in a battle he might run,” (4) showcasing how when compared to his previously held notions about war, the irony of Henry’s newfound cowardice and lack of bravery is clear. Similarly, Henry is naïve to his true part in the war and the uncontrollable forces controlling his life. Through the use of naturalism, the pessimistic version of realism that asserts that most individuals are without freedom—that they are at the mercy of larger forces, like economics, war, the government, heredity, environment, and nature, Crane shows the reader how small and insignificant Henry is in the grand scheme of things. As Dr. Ball states, “you join the military and lose your freedom, it seems,” exemplifying Henry’s current predicament (Ball). Henry, although having hopes of becoming a hero, is as his mother says, “jest one little feller amongst a hull lot of others,” (3) revealing the reality and irony of his current situation, he is not a hero able to achieve glory in battle. As the narrator points out Henry, “had grown to regard himself merely as a part of a vast blue demonstration,” (4) demonstrating how his situation changes Henry’s ability to gain glory and fame in battle. However, soon after the first attack of the

The story “The Red Badge of Courage” is about a boy named Henry who face many things.That the beginning Jim Conklin, a soldier reports a rumor he has overhead the regiment will move to battle the next day.The next morning the soldier learn that Jim was mistaken, so the army does not move. One day, the army is given orders and begins to march. While marching, the soldiers debate when and if they will see battle.The next night finds the increasingly exhausted soldiers marching through a dark forest.Henry, a young soldier worries that the enemy might appear at any moment. One morning, however, Jim shakes Henry awake. They hear the crack of distant gunfire, and the regiment begin to run. Henry realizes that even if he wanted to run,

Page 120-121 “...the young man would not have wanted to be a soldier...try not to grow up too fast.”

Jack confided in his sister that he wanted to join the armed forces in order to escape the mediocre, sheltering homelife that they lived in. He wants to be independent from his father, but he is ultimately unable to gain a place in the military without his Rudyard’s help, much to Jack’s dismay. Showing great potential from the day he arrives at basic training, Jack even practices after the workday is done to improve his shooting skills. Even after being promoted to Lieutenant, he still works alongside his men. Jack has a calm demeanor, but remains in control of his battalion, which proves to be a valuable style of leadership when times are tough in the trenches. But the life of young man with such great potential is cut short at only eighteen years and one day old. Jack was unlucky, but even the soldiers that survived the battle suffered immense shellshock after the War was over, and many could barely function on their own throughout the rest of their lives. The War affected an entire generation of young men in Britain, and at what cost? Though they were ultimately victorious, the war that was supposed to end all wars did not achieve its goal, as the Britain would go through yet another time of bloodshed decades

Courage is defined as "the quality of mind or spirit enabling one to meet danger or opposition with fearlessness." According to Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, "Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." (pg.121). Harper Lee clearly portrays the theme of courage in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. One likes to think of a hero, as strong, brave, and meeting all challenges head on. All the characters in this book have a different view as to what courage