The Red Badge Of Courage Essay

First, one should focus on the language and Henry's ethos. The soldiers are burdened with the thought of a

      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.

First, Henry might have been scared. He saw what happened in the first battle and it affected him in a way it didn't the others. This was the first time he fought in a war or battle with other men. He made friends with some of the soldiers in his regiment. If he stuck

But in the second battle Henry flees from his comrades while they held the line as the rebels tried to push them out. The regiment ended up being the victors of the second battle too. But Henry was worried about what the other soldiers would say to him since he ran away from the battle. I believe Henry was always afraid of battle even before it started and when the enemy came sprinting towards him he was shocked and started to flee.

Initially, he found “a little panic-fear grew in his mind” (Crane 6), raising his level of anxiety about how he would react when the first shots of battle exploded around him. Eventually fear engulfed him and he “threw down his gun and fled” (Crane 30). In this moment, Henry realized how his fear drove him toward the cowardly act of desertion. However, the next day, Henry finds his fear replaced with a “wild hate for the relentless foe” (Crane 70) who would not allow him to rest. Regardless of the selfish cause of Henry’s rising anger, the results were a newly lit fire fueling his drive to battle the enemy. The transformation of Henry’s fear into vengeful anger allowed him to act as the courageous soldier he always desired to

In the first battle, Henry fights along side the other soldiers. At this time, Henry is feeling confidant in his fighting skills and counted on his fellow soldiers to do their job. The narrator says, "He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was apart- a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country - was in a crisis. He was welded into a common personality which was dominated by a single desire". In this quote, it talks about how he feels that he believes in his regiment. He isn't so selfish, he believes he is no longer an individual with regiments, they work as a whole person. In the second battle, it's different, he flees with the regiment.

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.

In the first battle it seemed like Henry was more excited and his adrenaline was running. He wanted to observe what battle was and show strength to his fellow soldiers. Henry gained confidence as his regiment drove back the enemy. His excitement in the moment gets him more involved with moving horses, flags and wounded men. “He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was a part - a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country - was in crisis.” Henry was beginning to think like a leader.

Henry wants to be the hero but he doesn’t think the war is really coming.He thinks that join the army has proved his bravery already,sometimes the people makes him think he is a hero now.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. He had imagined peoples secure in the shadow of his eagle-eyed prowess,…but it, he thought, had been long gone over the horizon and had disappeared forever(chapter

“The Red Badge of Courage” 1. Explain a character's problem and then offer your character advice on how to solve his/her problem. Henry’s problem is that he initially regards war and the soldiers that participate in a grandiose ideology. He is swept up in the way he and his fellow soldiers are treated as they march on Washington.

Before Henry joined the army he dreamed of being in battle it thrilled him he wanted to be a hero, but in the first chapter the narrator explains why. In chapter 1 he was deciding whether or not if he had courage to join the war and he decided to join the army because he believes war makes heros and he will gain honor and a place in history. This shows how his views of battle was before he joined the army he believed that he will be a hero if he joined the army.

“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

He described that he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. Through this analogy, the reader can see that Henry is reducing the soldiers to unthinking, unfeeling machines, performing their duty without taking into account the threat of injury or death. As he looks around at the faces of the rest of the soldiers in his regiment, he notices their focused commitment to the firing of their rifles. He wonders if he is the only one faced with questions of morality. While the regiment began to advance, Henry was shocked to receive a packet of letters from Wilson, who feared he would die in battle. After the battle, he is glad that he made it through the first day. He begins to lose the romantic vision of war by seeing the realities, but he starts lying to himself about who is really is.

Henry's fears take over, and his only way to achieve his self comfort again is to run away from the battle. Henry uses the forest to calm himself. The forest is where he begins to overcome his selfish ways, he reflects back on the battle and the men, and starts to believe that he can be of help to one or more of the men in the regiment. Henry eventually wins over the fear and joins with another regiment to fight against the rebels.