As the object of war became more surreal and Jim had thought about enlisting he uncovered a nervous feeling, “It was as if the ground before him, that has only minutes ago stretched away to a clear future, had suddenly titled in the direction of Europe, in the direction of events, and they were all now on a dangerous slope.” Australia depicted the image of war as a symbol for pride. On the streets there were signs urging men to sign up, “Pictures of the king and queen with crossed flags on either side, one Australian, the other the union jack. And the streets did feel different.” In both texts the pressures of patriotism and pride influence the men’s decision to enlist as a ‘honorable choice’, rather than a forceful act. It shows soldiers have enlisted to ‘serve’ a good cause by defending their country, yet not informing them of the change of mind they may have when they experience the horror of war first hand, and wish to come…
The main character of this book is Henry Fleming, mostly referred to as The Youth or Youth. The Youth has dark, curly brown hair also; he is a young teenager and is average height when compared to the Tall Soldier. Henry is insecure because he is going through a difficult stage between being a "man" and being a "boy". Henry can't wait to get to war when he signs up but during the book Henry learns that war has a lot of affects on people emotionally and physically. Henry's flaw is that he is afraid of making himself look bad and he is worried that he is going to be a coward and run away from battle. Henry really wants to be a "man" and be courageous. I once heard a swim coach give an extremely good definition of courage. He said "To me courage is not to be unafraid but it is to be afraid but one does it anyways and doesn't worry about being afraid. I think Henry thought of courageous as fearless and that is also part of his flaw.…
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.…
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…
The book starts out with Jim Conklin, a soldier in the 304 Regiment, telling the rest of his comrades in his unit that he overheard that they are going to soon march out of their camp. There is a mixed response. Some soldiers are overjoyed at the news while some other soldiers are quite annoyed especially a soldier who just laid a wood floor in his tent. But Henry…
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.…
From the first page, The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry, has preconceived ideals of war, that lead him to believe that “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.” Henry enlists in the service because of the “newspapers, the village gossip” and his own idealistic images about what war will be. Henry joins the war not because he believes in the war, and not because of some sense of family duty or country duty, he does it so he can come back after the war and be a hero among regular men. He wants the praise and accolades that one gets for doing such a great deed. Henry had a false sense of what war is really like because his lack of experience causes him to correlate real time war to epic ancient battles. He idealistically thinks that his first battle will be “one of those great affairs of the earth (6).” Henry desperately wants to follow in the footsteps of Ancient Greek heroes and become a hero himself. He lacks experience in war; he can only imagine what war is genuinely like. The Red Badge of Courage to Henry is a battle wound received in the war. Henry thinks that getting a wound during battle means that he had the courage to fight the war and in doing so, he received his own red badge of courage.…
Hafer said in the critical analysis, “Irony in The Red Badge of Courage”, “a badge of shame or absurdity.” The youth’s red badge is received by a fellow solider when the youth grabs him to find out information, which he would not have needed if he chose to stay fight; however, he finally obtained the “red badge of courage” he so desperately wanted, but in an ironic way because no courage is involved since he was not in battle. There is no honor to the badge when received liked that. When the youth returns his regiment by the end of the night he feels no true shame because he not worried that will suspect his desertions because of his injury. He is back to heroic thinking. Micheal Schneider said in his critical analysis, “Mythic Elements of Quest-Romance”, “When he imagines himself as a hero, he runs from the enemy charge; then reclaims his shattered self-esteem only through…his wound.” Henry goes though up’s and downs of confidence in ironic ways as he does the opposite of he thinks and feels heroic when he was…
Lieutenant Henry realizes that the war was never something that he enjoyed doing, nor is it his priority. He thinks to himself that, “anger was washed away in the river along with any obligation” (232). Henry doesn’t feel the sense of commitment that others in the war do. For example, when he talks to Gino, he cannot identify with the pride this young man feels for his country. He listens to him speak about words such as glory, honor, and courage, and they don’t mean anything to him. He hears Ettore Moretti talk about his accomplishments and awards, and does not feel that same pride. Instead, he feels only indifference. When other ambulance drivers talk about how Italy should withdraw from the war, he does not defend the country he is fighting for. He is an American, and when asked why he isn’t fighting for America, he doesn’t know the answer. The pride and glory that so many of the other men have is lacking in Lieutenant Henry. Throughout the book, he remains unfeeling and cold about the war. He doesn’t pick a side, but simply goes through the motions. After his illuminating moment, it was clear that his purpose in life was not to be out on the front…
War stories is not what everybody believe it to be about. O'Brien offers abstract commentary on storytelling. He also blurs the divisions between what is real and what is not real and author .In the story O’Brien states, “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor have restrain men from doing the things men always done (790)”. Being in wore changes the man that fight them.…
He has recently returned to camp wounded, and basked in the admiration of the men who believe the tale of heroism that he makes up. He has condemned the men who stayed to fight in the battle he could not face and prided himself that he managed his retreat with dignity and happiness. He believes that since no one knows of his fear or gutlessness, it does not count; in his mind, his behavior has done nothing to compromise his manhood. With his mistakes secured and no one knowing about them, Henry feels neither regret nor shame, and allows the esteem of others to reinforce his sense of having acted in the right. Henry would feel just a bit guilty for the made up story and mistakes if the regiment troops found out, and he would encounter a difficult…
Many soldiers abandon their belief of honour toward one’s duty as they begin to appreciate the value of life in an increasingly hectic war. Upon Henry’s return to duty, the obscenity of the war becomes apparent, but more so, the relation between absurdism and the notion of one’s honour to their duty (MacDonald). The sense of absurdism is captured when Henry removes his ranking, ultimately removing himself from the war: “I had taken off the stars, but that was for convenience. It was no point of honour. I was not against them. I was through” (232). Henry’s desire to perform duty in an honourable conduct diminishes upon his return to duty, resulting in his denial to continue fighting. By removing the stars…
We would not die in that man’s company that fears his fellowship to die with us.” Henry even gives the opportunity for any man who does not want to fight to leave. This is a privilege that you would never expect a peasant to have, but henry respects and value his men enough to offer…
Every man has a feel of duty to his country and has a sense of warfare to protect his land. At the same time a man has his desires which can be as meaningless as a car or as important as the love of his life. In the novel A Farewell To Arms, Frederick Henry is stuck in the conflict of choosing to follow his sense of duty or follow his heart. Those two forces are pulling on Henry so hard that he is about to be torn apart.…
Crane wanted to explore an old theme, but give it a new and realistic twist; thus was born The Red Badge of Courage. The old theme was courage in adverse circumstances, one that was common throughout literature. The new spin was something shocking and real: the horrors of war. Rather than speak about what was truly going on in a war zone with great detail, Crane focused his story through an emotional lens. He showed the reader not what was happening to the soldier only on the battlefield, but also in his mind— the conflict between fear and bravery became real to readers. The true terror of war was something that had been commonly removed from war stories; instead, battlefield glory and weak heroism filled the pages. Crane’s depiction of battle was a shock to his readers, since he satirized the heroism typically found in novels and replaced the romance of war with the truth.…