The Red Badge of Courage Analysis
Seliz Kaya
English III
Skar
The Red Badge of Courage
In “The Red Badge of Courage” Henry defines the American dream as being known for being courageous. Henry wants to show how brave he is by joining the war and he wants to be acknowledged that way. From the book, it seems like it is mostly focused on Henry’s transformation from a coward man to a brave soldier, but Crane mainly focuses on his mental growth. This shows that the dream Crane is trying to debate is actually different from the main characters’ dream. Henry’s dream is to be memorable by his bravery. He plans to achieve this dream by showing everyone how daring he is by joining the war and being an important part of it. Although Crane wants to show that the dream is not all about fame but mostly about improvement and he achieves this by writing about Henry’s new understanding of the world. Even though Henry accomplishes his dream of being an important part of the war, he no more cares about it because he has become a man from being “the youth”. Crane concentrates on the meaning of courage but his main purpose is to examine courage in the most discouraging events which is the battlefield. In the book “At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage” (70) shows how Henry isn’t ready for battle. He wishes that he had an injury, “a red badge of courage”, that showed that he had the courage of joining the war, that he is a hero. In another part he thinks “And, furthermore, how could they kill him who was the chosen of gods and doomed to greatness?”(111). Henry believes that he was chosen to be a hero, a memorable brave soldier. By saying “doomed to greatness” he means that his death will show his courage and that he will be known for his greatness and success in war.
At other parts, Crane focuses on Henry’s thoughts on masculinity. After willingly joining the war,
English III
Skar
The Red Badge of Courage
In “The Red Badge of Courage” Henry defines the American dream as being known for being courageous. Henry wants to show how brave he is by joining the war and he wants to be acknowledged that way. From the book, it seems like it is mostly focused on Henry’s transformation from a coward man to a brave soldier, but Crane mainly focuses on his mental growth. This shows that the dream Crane is trying to debate is actually different from the main characters’ dream. Henry’s dream is to be memorable by his bravery. He plans to achieve this dream by showing everyone how daring he is by joining the war and being an important part of it. Although Crane wants to show that the dream is not all about fame but mostly about improvement and he achieves this by writing about Henry’s new understanding of the world. Even though Henry accomplishes his dream of being an important part of the war, he no more cares about it because he has become a man from being “the youth”. Crane concentrates on the meaning of courage but his main purpose is to examine courage in the most discouraging events which is the battlefield. In the book “At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage” (70) shows how Henry isn’t ready for battle. He wishes that he had an injury, “a red badge of courage”, that showed that he had the courage of joining the war, that he is a hero. In another part he thinks “And, furthermore, how could they kill him who was the chosen of gods and doomed to greatness?”(111). Henry believes that he was chosen to be a hero, a memorable brave soldier. By saying “doomed to greatness” he means that his death will show his courage and that he will be known for his greatness and success in war.
At other parts, Crane focuses on Henry’s thoughts on masculinity. After willingly joining the war,