Red Badge Of Courage Essay

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. 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
Henry fights like a lion. Thinking of Jim Conklin, he vents his rage against the enemy soldiers. His lieutenant says that with ten thousand Henry's, he could win the war in a week. Nevertheless, Henry and Wilson overhear an officer say that the soldiers of the 304th fight like “mule drivers.” Insulted, they long to prove the man wrong. In an ensuing charge latter that day, the regiment’s color bearer falls. Henry then takes up the flag and carries it proudly before the regiment. After the charge fails, the derisive officer tells the regiment’s colonel that his men fight like “mud diggers,” further infuriating Henry. Another soldier tells Henry and Wilson, to their gratification, that the colonel and lieutenant consider them the best fighters in the