Betrayal In The Red Badge Of Courage

Betrayal is a common theme in literature. In his novel Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane creates an exemplar of betrayal through his portrayal of Henry’s perspective of current events. Through his representation of Henry’s betrayal, Crane depicts a youth’s naivety, the universe’s disregard for human life, and the development of Wilson’s character. Henry’s perspective is the core of Crane’s novel, and Crane portrays it in order to reveal the harsh realization of Henry’s petty delusions. Henry believes in traditional models of courage and honor. He romanticizes the image of dying in battle by invoking the Greek tradition of a dead soldier being laid upon his shield. In the second battle, the opposing forces shown perseverance after a minor retreat. Contemplating between his belief and self-preservation, Henry unexpectedly panics and runs away. The egotistic nature of Henry’s mind reveals itself as he works desperately to restore his own self-confidence by

After scaring a squirrel away, Henry stumbles upon a dead soldier, whose rotting body serves as a powerful reminder of the universe’s indifference to human life. As ants were infesting the corpse’s face, he perceives the cold hard truth of death. Henry assumes death would stop the drama of war. Yet, when he encounters the corpse, he finds that death is nothing more than an integral and unremarkable part of nature. The sight of the dead soldier undoes the comfortable moral assumption that the squirrel’s flight from danger affords Henry, and it shows him that his logic has been too simple. There may be no compass of right and wrong to which he might cling in this situation. One of the few things he took solace in is now a formidable opposing force in his head. Regardless of one’s distinctions such as honor and glory, all human life meets the same