The Red Badge Of Courage By Stephen Crane

Man is not meant to be alone, we are meant for relationship and working as one body. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane tells the story of young Henry in his journey through the war. Henry and his regiment are a good example of the power of the individual as compared to the power of a full fighting force working in harmony. The Red Badge of Courage shows how in war individuals look after themselves, an unorganized and untested group is fragile, and a veteran force is mighty. In the Civil War the men fought for their beliefs on slavery. These men fought their own countrymen for the rights of slaves. Two large groups fought over their opinion on the rights of slaves. Individuals became part of a cause, be it either for, or against the right to liberty. First, the first instinct of a man in war is to always find a way to survive. Men would die all around in the regiment, and some people like Henry would run to protect themselves. This fear of death is shown when the men are halted. “During this halt many men in
the regiment began erecting tiny hills in front of them. They used stones, sticks, earth, and anything they though might turn a bullet.(44)” In the beginning, the first reaction of man in the face of death is not to realize the significance of the reason he fight, but rather to react instinctively. Henry and the others would think of shelter whenever they halted their march. Safety was their sole focus above rest and relaxation. Later when they fight the enemy the men are faced with the fear of injury. Some men desert because their own cowardice pushes them away from danger. An individual is self-serving by nature, only through experience and especially when in a group can the individual see why to fight and how to be brave. Second, though a regiment can be strong, in the beginning it is weak. Henry’s regiment started as a large fighting force, but in their first engagement they fought for only a short time as a whole force. “He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was part—a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country—was in crisis.(58-59)” This is the first time Henry feels the reason to fight: the country he must protect. Sadly this fighting of a unit breaks down after the first wave. When the enemy advanced again and got closer and closer Henry joined some of his fleeing comrades. The concept of a strength in groups was understood, yet not carried out in this fight. As the men fled they weakened the group. They harmed the unit by looking after themselves and not paying attention to those around them or the goal. A group is strong, but an inexperienced group with selfish or cowardly individuals is weak. Third, a gathering of men tested in battle and full of enough courage and determination are a force that cannot be stopped.
When men gather together under one ideal, and form a bond that has been tested, and the men have been pushed closer together they can accomplish a lot more than themselves as individuals. At the final fight of the book, Henry and his friends make up their minds that they will charge the entrenched enemy. “There was new and unexpected force in the movement of the regiment. A knowledge of its faded and jaded condition made the charge appear like a paroxysm, a display of strength that comes before a final feebleness.(209-210)” Though they are tired and angry, they fight on. Energy springs from their hearts full of fire for the cause and hatred for their opposers. They have been formed into one unit dedicated to one task: pushing back the enemy no matter the losses suffered. The formed group became strong through time and
circumstance. In Conclusion, weakness lies in the bitter struggle of individuals, men thrown together can not be expected to perform as a team, and a fully formed team can accomplish their goals. Through the story we see the thoughts of the individual through Henry. He had doubts and he suffered. Regardless of his own problems he faced the enemy with his fellow soldiers. As he grew closer to his friends he became more confident in their mettle. They became more and more of a fighting force as time went on. The struggle of the many towards a goal gets them much closer than the struggle of single-minded people towards a goal.