Imagine that you are going into the Civil war and not knowing anything about weapons, of combat, or the fact that there are about nine different steps to loading a musket. That is what Henry Fleming the main character of The Red Badge of Courage written by Stephen Crane had to do.
Did war change Henry? Did it make him mature much faster? Do you think it made him grow up quicker? Many events in the book The Red Badge of Courage proves that Henry is no longer the scared boy he was when he first enlisted for the war. I believe that war can turn a boy into a man. Make a boy become an adult. War is something that is tragic but also can be rewarding. You have to make choices out on the battlefield in a matter of seconds. Some of the choices could affect many people and not just yourself. There are plenty of examples in the book that prove war can change a man. Henry has changed for the better because he now thinks of others, he has to make important decisions, and finally; he becomes courageous.
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along."- Eleanor Roosevelt. You are not born with courage, it 's something that’s created over time. Being courageous is never a lucid decision, it determines the quality of a person 's mind as it 's faced with difficulty, danger, pain, and a test of bravery. The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee develops the theme concerning courage to show the difficulty and the necessity of acting boldly. The characters Atticus, Scout, Arthur Radley and Mrs.Dubose display an act of courage as they are faced with feasible but difficult situations.
Henry was immediately doubting the choice that he had just made, to go off to war at such a young age and leaving his family. Henry on the other hand ran from battle, he jumped and ran, like a coward, Henry didn’t get shot during the war, but he did get hit in the head with the end of someone’s gun while fleeing from battle, he thought he had been shot, Henry even told his best friend Wilson that he had been shot in the back of the head. Henry did make it through the war, he didn’t die in war, but he survived it, but the book Red Badge of Courage was more about pure irony and rage and
Courage is strength in the face of physical pain, hardship or death. It is also the choice and willingness to confront shame and personal loss. In Harper Lee's novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird', people demonstrate courage by standing up against prejudice, and overcoming their own loneliness and fears to live a good life. Mrs Dubose faces up to her morphine addiction. Atticus faces down the racism of the town. Jem shows his courage in trying to protect his sister. Harper Lee believes that courage requires perseverance and fearlessness in risking a life to save another.
Stephen Crane’s “A Mystery of Heroism” is a short story of a soldier Fred Collins and his seemingly ignorant decision to get water from a well in the middle of a battlefield. Crane uses figurative language to depict the brutality of war and how foolish Fred Collins’ decision to act brave was. This story uses symbolism, imagery, and personification to help the readers understand why Collins’ act was so imprudent yet ended up being heroic. Crane’s story suggests that turning your back on war to serve yourself can be a form of bravery, however, doing it to serve others, i.e. getting a trapped officer water is heroic.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee vividly illustrates the real meaning of courage, both physical and emotional, through various situations and characters. Jem and Scout mix up courage and strength. They think courage is the ability to use strength to get your way. But c courage in the novel is not about winning or losing. It’s about doing what’s right even when it may be hard and people may not be on your side.
Courage has gone through many changes. It has been altered throughout races, cultures, religions, sex, and time. However, the core values of courage has always remained parallel. It is difficult to explain in words the meaning of courage, like describing a color, but everyone knows what courage is, how it feels, and how to perform it. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus explained to us a type of courage that was shown in Ms. Dubose. These attributes were also apparent in a man named Liu Xiaobo. Both Ms. Dubose, and Mr. Liu, rose above social views to fight for their beliefs, did not give up in times of trouble, and had the audacity to face demons that were far more powerful than themselves.
In battle, there are many ways to be put in the wrong position. A few erratic decisions can cause lifelong problems. In “The Red Badge of Courage” Stephan Crane shows the many situations in battle during the Civil War in 1860. Henry Fleming, also known as “The Youth,” made many notable decisions that would consider him a coward rather than a hero. Henry demonstrates a coward because he ran during the battle, deserted the tattered soldier, and lied to the other soldiers.
Courage throughout history has always been interpreted in many different ways; cowardice, defiance, and even idiocy. Often it is hard to recognize true courage until many years have passed. True courage is showing bravery and standing up for your beliefs and principles in times of strife. “Courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway” –Harper Lee. There are three characters that I believe showed true courage in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird: Scout, the tomboyish daughter of Atticus Finch who defended her family in times of hardship, Atticus Finch, the man who decided to defend a black man in court, much to the dismay of the town of Maycomb and Mrs. Dubose, the old morphine
you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie,” while in Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, Henry feels at the end that “He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle,” (p. 155) illustrating how some rectitude has been made. To O’Brien, no rectitude can be made for a story to be a true war story, and therefore, The Red Badge of Courage is not a war
As they tend to say “Curiosity kills the cat.” In this book “The Red Badge of Courage” the young boy Henry tends to flee from his second battle. That is quite strange because we would think someone would run from their first battle because they should be scared of what is going to happen. The reason why henry didn’t flee the first battle was because first off, henry probably thought that since he could conquer the first battle that the second got too intense for him. Secondly Henry was just following along to what the other soldiers did. Lastly, Henry was just plain old scared as they said “He ran like a coward.”
Conflict is one of the most basic elements of natural human behavior. Conflict, from a literary standpoint, serves its purpose to create tension within a story, which as a result keeps readers interested and engaged. Whether the conflict is with another person, with nature, or within yourself, it is ubiquitous and unavoidable. In Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, the struggles that Henry faces help to give depth and meaning to the story, as well as develop Henry as a character. In the novel, conflict is used to show the reality of war and the effect it can have on a person. Throughout the length of the story, Henry deals with conflicts that relate to nature, other men, and even some in particular that lie within his own person. These
For centuries the notion of war as an exciting and romantic endeavor has existed until Stephen Crane DE glorified war in his novel The Red Badge of Courage. He tells about the true nature and experience of war through a young soldier Henry Fleming and contrasts it with his romantic imagination. Crane introduces a more realistic approach to war which is in contrast to Henry’s expectations.
In The Red Badge of Courage, the theme of courage is tied to masculinity. At first, Henry Fleming feels like he can’t prove himself without first proving his valor. In all, his courage is proven through his proven through his deep commitment and greater cause of the Union Army. We also see Warfare as a theme of The Red Badge of Courage. Crane does his best to embrace the thoughts and ideas of war from a single perspective contrary to a group view as well as the psychological battles faced by an individual, which can sometimes be seen as far more important than the battles actually fought on the field. The last theme that I find important is the theme of transformation. The transformation of this story is a psychological one. This transformation is driven by countless trials of the soldiers in the