Preview

Bravery And Manhood In The Red Badge Of Courage

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
720 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bravery And Manhood In The Red Badge Of Courage
In the novel The Red Badge of Courage, psychological effects of war are further dealt with and examined than the aspect of physical war tactics. The book primarily focuses on one character and struggle: the protagonist Henry’s, constant battle with himself to be courageous. As the story moves forward, Henry is somewhat fighting two battles, one physical and one mentally as he strives to prove his bravery and manhood. It is commonly debated whether or whether not Henry finally succeeds and completes his pursuit for maturity and adulthood by the end of the novel. I think that although Henry’s first notions of what it means to be courageous are arguably illogical and impractical, he grows through experience and reaches maturity at the novel’s conclusion.

In the first few pages of the novel, before Henry has been involved in battle, his perception of bravery and manhood are highly romanticized. The Youth first enlists in battle
…show more content…
The concept of survival instincts is prevalent in the Red Badge of courage for multiple chapters, Henry inwardly battles his instincts trying to decide whether having the urge to survive at all costs is cowardly or smart. At first he decides that is animals instinctively run from danger, humans should too. The Youth accepted the fact that he ran from battle with a new found courage and pride in himself. However, this courage is short lived; Henry sees the wounded soldiers and immediately gets jealous. He ignorantly views the wounded as the happiest, and the most brave soldiers in battle. Shortly after, Henry is clubbed in the head by a fellow soldier’s rifle, and he lies to his regiment saying he got shot in the head, trying to retain whatever self confidence he has. However, this wound is not so much the red badge of courage that he longed for, but rather a convenient cover to protect the lies he builds around

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Red Badge of Courage setting is during an unnamed battle during the Civil War. Crane deliberately never mentions the place, the date, or e en the fact that the war is the one between the states. However, from The Veteran, the sequel to Red Badge, we know that the Battle in question is actually the aforementioned Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia in…

    • 64 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Red Badge of Courage is about a young soldier named Henry Fleming,who is drafted during the war. The book traces the thread of emotions and reactions to events that he goes through, in the civil war. Being an an average farmer from New York, Henry wanted to go to war and become a hero like the ones he has read about in his school. The book starts off with a bunch of boys sitting at camp by the river, and while everyone is thinking about what they will do in war and how heroic they would be, Henry was thinking of how he would react when he goes to the battlefields. How would he react if he was severely injured or even died? Though he said that, no matter what happens he will not run from a fight or a battle, he did, during the second war, when he was scared and he saw a few other soldiers scamper due to the smoke. Henry kept telling himself through and through that he was protecting himself, even when the…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Red Badge of Courage is a story about the change that the Civil War brought to the young Henry Fleming. Henry's goal throught the story is to become a great brave soldier which he achieves by the end of the Novel. There are many factors that propel him through his goal and others that make it harder for Henry to achieve his such as the death of Jim Conklin. With every factor and event that Henry…

    • 817 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Red Badge of Courage requires a less restricted from of reference, for Solomon realizes that Crane was not directing his attention against the Cooke-Cable-George Eggleston celebration of heroism. Instead he found his real subject in the psychology of motivation under stress and anticipated a view of warfare which had become almost universal in our own country.”(web) There is not many books that have been published in the view of a young soldier from the civil war period, and this book gives the reader a glimpse inside of solider mind. “The youth, in his leapings, saw, as through a mist, a picture of four or five men stretched upon the ground or writhing upon their knees with bowed heads as if they had been stricken by bolts from the sky. Tottering among them was the rival color bearer, whom the youth saw had been bitten vitally by the bullets of the last formidable volley. He perceived this man fighting a last struggle, the struggle of one whose legs are grasped by demons. It was a ghastly battle. Over his face was the bleach of death, but set upon it was the dark and hard lines of desperate purpose. With this terrible grin of resolution he hugged his precious flag to him and was stumbling and staggering in his design to go the way that led to safety for it.” (book) Solomon really gives credit to Crane for writing his book in this fashion and credits this book one of Cranes best works. “Solomon has an acute sense for telling word and image, and without straining has revealed the complexity of texture in the best of Crane’s work.” (web) After reading the critics work I believe that Solomon wrote this because he agrees with Cranes prospective on how young boys grew into men in a time of war. They all start out scared and weak, but by the end they are strong and mighty. Solomon…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. One passage that i found in the Red Badge of Courage that had much confusion would have to be in chapter 10. In this chapter, a young man keeps calling Henry the name Tom Jamison. Henry can obviously knows he is suffering from a head wound. These passages can be very different and similar. They are similar in the since of war, but are different in perspective and in detail. General Pleaston's passage makes me feel as if was really experiencing war. I believe this passage makes me feel this way because of the descriptive details the author uses. I also chose this passage because it was from real events. A passage that can offer a blow b blow description of events in battles would probably…

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Red Badge of Courage, Crane depicted the main character Henry as a callow youth who recently joined the Union army for the sake of his naive conception of heroism plus the quest for honor. Thus, in the beginning, Henry fought along with other comrades during the first battle. Although he bosomed the sentiments as fear and uneasiness, everything was still new to him and it left him no time to react on his guts. However, after the early round of brutality, Henry savvied right enough that the reality and cruelty of the war would eventually end his life therefore he was intimidated, and it led him to flee from the second scene.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, revolves around the frequent theme of courage however, his perception of courage is ignorant considering the actual meaning of courage. O’Brien uses courage as an antidote to the physical and moral weakness in the soldiers of Vietnam creating character obsession over his interchangeable perception of courage and weakness. Not going to war when drafted is perceived as weak, but O’Brien believes that going to war when one wants to flee is Canada is arguable weakness. O’Brien believes no matter how strong or courageous a solider presumes to be it will never seem to be enough; weakness will always prevail because they are “too frightened to be cowards” (24). In looking at all works of literature from…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War can make a man forget about other things going on in life and just focus on the war. He wasn’t brave when he left the battle. He wasn’t brave when he lied about his wounds when asked what happened.When he comes back to war for the first time is when he first become courageous. When he runs around with the flag in his hands is also an act of bravery. In the beginning of the book I asked myself, “Would his mother be proud of him leaving the war?” I knew that she wouldn’t because that makes him a coward. He went to war which was very brave of him but he regretted it once it was time to fight. I know now that his mother would be very proud of him and how far along he has came on his journey of war. She would be very proud to have a brave son that is willing to fight for his army and for his…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Picture yourself in Northern Virginia in early May 1863. The rebel army has come up into Union territory and a major battle is set in place to happen at Chancellorsville. This is the start of the battle, described in detail in Stephen Crane’s book The Red Badge of Courage. The book follows a young boy who is at first frightened by the battle but in the end leads a charge and overcomes a rebel position. I think that this is the most important theme in the book, how the boy finds his courage and how his soul changes by the end of the book. The movie version of this book, made in 1951, also shows the boy’s mental change but has some major flaws that deter from the story line. Overall I think that The Red Badge of Courage is a book that has a storyline that is relatable and is timeless.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Red Badge of Courage is delivered through Stephen Crane portraying the young Henry, a naive soldier faced with the hardships of war. He seeks courage and constant validation from not only others but from himself and in the midst of war, he wonders if he’ll flee in the face of fear or if he’ll stay and fight, however, as the story develops the readers discover that he takes on both roles. Henry is obsessed with gaining honor and obtaining validation from others, he constantly chases after the display of courage from the beginning to the end of the book, however, as he matures his view on war changes.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wilson-aka. the Loud solider and aka the Friend in Red Badge of Courage is the character I would be eager to meet if possible. Wilson had learned halfway through the story, that you do not always have to get the last word, or be the person that tries to irritate people to start fights. He had realized this establishing a better behavior- quieter, less obnoxious, caring, and even humble. By changing his attitude, and behavior Wilson became a better man than he was at the beginning of the battle. We all have to grow up to be better, and by doing so we become the leading example for others. Henry did not at first understand what was going on with Wilson so that is why he tried to rile him. Once Henry had his own “realization” on what it really…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen crane shows us Henry Fleming's journey through war. Crane develops Fleming by using animal imagery, patterns of speech, and interactions with other characters.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Henry goes to battle and sees the enemy coming. He is thinking in his head, do i retreat or stay and hold my ground and them off? henry’s thought came quick when he asked himself,” He ran like a rabbit” (Crane 56).He heard a noise in a shelter like build. He ran in there to check it out and to get away and out of the line of fire. He finds the Tall Soldier laying there. Eric Solomon point soul,”The death of Conklin has particular meaning to the hero, just as in Crane’s story, The Open Boat, the stronger personality does not survive the test”(270).The body of the Tall Soldier laying here on the ground in front of Henry really opens his eyes and explains right there what ar is really like and it is not a joke. War is not a game. It impacted the whole book. It made Henry notice that it is time to grow up, be an adult he's not a kid anymore, “He scrambled upon a wee hill and watched it sweeping finley, keeping formation in difficult places”(Crane 59).HE was watching as people were shooting at each other. He has to grow and become a man and go out there and fight like his brothers and sisters that were drafted to come not just because they wanted to. They had to come, they were told to but Henry wanted to come because he wanted to be know as a hero in everyone's eyes. He needs to get out there and fight like a man he wants to be. That is why he signed up and came to war because he loves war and did not think war was as bad as it really is. He did not want to listen to his mom just because she is a female and he doesn't think women know what they are talking about when it comes to war and men…

    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sarah Byrnes Courage

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I believe after pondering the topic and reading this book that courage and bravery for that matter are not some extraordinary adrenaline pumping, the heroic and heart-pounding rescue of someone just millimeters…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When someone thinks of a mature person some qualities that might come to mind are honesty, humility, and respect. Unfortunately they are traits that not everyone poses and some may never poses. In the beginning of the novel Henry is a whiney, unrealistic teenager. However overtime he starts to develop some traits that lead to him acting more mature, and adult-like in the environment he is in. In The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry goes from being an immature teenager to demonstrating traits of an adult and reevaluates his own personal values of wanting the fame and glory of being a soldier, and also his value of taking responsibility for his actions.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics