What Does The Flags Symbolize In The Red Badge Of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage uses both color imagery and color symbols. While Crane uses color to describe, he also allows it to stand for whole concepts. Gray, for example, describes the both the literal image of a dead soldier and Henry Fleming's vision of the sleeping soldiers as corpses and comes to stand for the idea of death. In the same way, red describes both the soldiers' physical wounds and Fleming's mental visions of battle. In the process, it gains a symbolic meaning which Crane will put to an icon like the "red badge of courage" (110, Penguin ed., 1983). Crane uses color in his descriptions of the physical and the metaphysical and allows color to take on meanings ranging from the

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Analyze a symbol in George Orwell's 1984, and write an essay demonstrating how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

“He felt that in this crisis his laws of life were useless. Whatever he had learned of himself was here of no avail. He was an unknown quantity. He saw that he would again be obliged to experiment as he had in early youth. He must accumulate information of himself, and meanwhile he resolved to remain close upon his guard lest those qualities of which he knew nothing should everlastingly disgrace him.” (Crane, Chapter 1) From this quote the reader can tell that Henry is fearful about whether he has the courage to fight in a battle. Henry assumes that war is only for creating heroes and that they are granted prestige in society. When he recalled his mothers advice, he realizes that it isn’t about making a name for himself, but meeting his responsibility honestly even if he has to sacrifice his own life.

In the beginning, Henry seems excited to be going to war, but he is excited by all the wrong reasons. Prior to the first Battle commencing, Henry witnesses another battle and because the men of that battle were successful, Henry felt that his regiment would also win theirs. This thought gave him a sense of pride and hope, but Henry’s reasons for wanting to win the battle were never noble, nor were they a personal sense of right and wrong. The only thing he wants from the battle is a good reputation. He believes that if his performance is impressive, he will be seen as a hero by all his peers.

In this skirmish, Henry did the exact opposite of what he did before, and fought with a war crazed vigor. He shot, reloaded, and shot again, never stopping to rest and continued firing like this well after the battle, shooting at nothing. This earned him the nickname “war devil” for his fighting vigor. When the battle ended, Henry was giving permission to go find a stream to fetch some water, but as he was searching, he overheard the generals discussing the battle tactics and learned that his regiment was to charge the enemy, which he told to his regiment. When the time finally came, the regiment surged forward toward the treeline, where gunfire tore at them and brought many to the ground. Despite the heavy losses, Henry managed to wrestle the flag from the fallen flag bearer, only to realize that some of the regiment was fleeing. Suddenly, a renewed and fresh wave of enemy soldiers burst out of the forest, running toward them. Even in this difficult and deadly situation, the regiment slowly encircled the Confederate troops, firing upon them and moving in, finally causing the enemy to retreat. Still the enemy was not vanquished. New soldiers bearing a flag poured from the trees, this time taking cover behind a fence, destroying Henry’s regiment. Their only choice was to charge them yet again, and with words of

As previously discussed, Henry must make adjustments to his dreams as events pertinent to his life manipulate his goals. Henry never seemingly has the exact same life goal at any one point in the book, as he changes his mind from being a courageous soldier, to earning a red badge of courage, and so on. However, Henry never loses his ambition to continue and persevere through the hardships from his sacrifices. He subconsciously understands he will eventually achieve what he is looking for; he realizes it will take time and guidance from the realities of his life. Henry’s approach to life eventually allows him to achieve his dreams. “So it came to pass that as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath his soul changed. He came from hot plowshares to prospects of clover tranquilly, and it was as if hot plowshares were not. Scars faded as flowers” (Crane 130). This quote emphasizes the result of Henry’s life as he leaves his previous forfeits behind in order to finally obtain his goal inspiring happiness, which emphasizes the novel’s overall

A symbol is an object an author uses to represent something within a story. It can move the story along, foreshadow what will happen next, and develop characters. In ¨The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses symbols like the scarlet ibis and the storm to show the progression of Doodle’s illness and foreshadow his death. The author James Hurst uses the scarlet ibis to symbolize the main character, Doodle.

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, protagonist, Holden Caulfield, wears a red hunting hat that he purchases for one dollar while in New York City. The hat is put on numerous times throughout the novel, when Holden needs to hide or needs a boost in confidence. The red hunting hat Holden wears symbolizes Holden’s identity and his attempt to preserve his and his sister Phoebe’s innocence.

Symbols are often proposed to help get the audience to question themselves and the way they think. An example of a Symbolism what do you consider to be the value of life and how they present it in a story? Many people will say life is greater than anything else on Earth, but then why do people go around smashing bugs or destroying trees or getting abortions? “Scholars would talk about symbolism in writing, but no one had asked the writers.” At any state, many other people are forced to consider that their view on the subject is. Stephen Crane most definitely plays with rhetorical questions and the symbols that follow those questions, especially in The Red Badge of Courage and An Episode of War.

“Within him, as he hurled himself forward, was born a love, a despairing fondness for this flag which was near him.” (Crane 108). In the story, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry Fleming is a 16 year old soldier who is fighting for the Union during the civil war at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Many readers believe that Henry is a hero, but some also believe he is cowardly throughout the book. Henry proves he is that he is heroic throughout the last few chapters of the book because he picks up the fallen flag, encourages people to stay and fight, and he continues to fight even after the enemy is gone.

Written by Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage is a novel filled with irony. This story is written in the point of view of the main character, Henry Fleming, and tells about his maturation through the war. Including the title, from the beginning to the end of the book there is irony present. The use of irony by Crane helps create a lot of discussion for critics. Henry’s internal debate is a main source of irony in this novel. Also, his fantasy of how he thought war was going to be and how it turned out is ironic.

As a soldier you are supposed to do as you're told and do it well. Henry in this instance, is already learning before he went off to war which means e is disciplined and ordered to follow directions. Breslin then adds to the quote stating, “he gains a practical sense of perspective which enables him to be a better soldier,” (Breslin 268). Breslin explains how Henry learns his first soldier lesson and keeps it with him throughout his time at war. Henry then witnesses death and realizes what life really is and accepts it.

This quote is, again, being stated by the narrator of the story on page 22 in chapter 2. This is one of two incidents in which Henry comes face to face with a dead body. Here he and the other soldiers walk past the body lying on the ground, and, with striking clarity, observes the dead man's shoes, feet, and beard. He is startled by this and cannot help but let his mind wander on the rough reality of death. This is one early moment where the true terrible nature of war cuts through Henry's musings on glory and gives him pause; instead of imagining being a war hero, he is wondering at the eternal mystery of life and death. This one soldier has died and is only decaying. Henry thinks that he may be in the same position one day. At this point

Morally Responsible Character Development Responsibility in war isn’t always abundantly clear and Shakespeare uses King Henry’s dynamic character to highlight that issue. Shakespeare uses this heavily metaphysical discussion of moral responsibility in war to symbolize a permanence in Henry’s maturity by critically analyzing the position as seen by the king himself and his soldiers. The discussion between King Henry and his soldiers ultimately discusses one deep question: who is responsible for who in war? The soldiers themselves, especially Captain Bates, deem themselves responsible for their physical allegiance to the king and "if his cause be wrong, [their] obedience to the King wipes the crime of it out of them" (145).

The novel opens with Crane’s character, Henry Fleming, sitting in his regiment 's camp debating with his comrades whether or not they will see conflict soon. Early in the novel, Fleming is illustrated as a young man simply trying to find his place in the world. He grew up romanticizing conflict and battles through his reading of Homer’s epics and wanted to experience the “glory in them”