Analysis: The Red Badge Of Courage By Stephen Crane

Giang 1
Student name: Giang Minh Huyen
Class: English Class 2 [2015-2018]
Hanoi – Amsterdam High School ANALYSIS ON THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane follows the transformation of a young soldier fighting for the Union in the Civil War, Henry Fleming. He has to fight against his battles in the mind before he can display the fruits of his transformation on the battlefield. The transformation here is a psychological one, in which a scared, selfish, uncertain, and naïve adolescent turns into a confident and strong young man in the course of a mere three days. At the beginning of the story, Henry appears as a young, fearful and daydreaming adolescent whose intention of going to the war is mostly caused by his desire for glory and becoming a man. As he waits for the war to happen, he immerses in his own thoughts: ‘He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life – of vague and

Consequently, his fear returns to him instantly. He is so afraid that he puts down this rifle, ‘he [yells] then with fright and [swings] about.’ It can be perceived that he has returned to being a boy, a youth, again. Stephen Crane depicts Henry’s mental condition by using a lot of character shifts to show that his courage and dutifulness do not come from within, but are affected by external forces. Henry continues to be an inconsiderate, childish youth since his escape from the regiment. While running away, he abandons a ‘tattered soldier’ wandering in the field because this man asks him too many questions about his wound, which he does not have. On returning to the regiment, Henry is welcomed by a soldier friend, Jim, who also helps him treat his head injury. ‘His self-pride was now entirely restored.’(15.100). As he now discovers the truth about Wilson’s letters, he reestablishes his confidence