The excerpt we read from Stephen Crane's novel The Red Badge of Courage and Yusef Komunyakaa's poem camouflaging the Chimera have some similarities and differences apart from them being decades apart. Some of the similarities and differences between the two works include themes, language, and genre. The themes of the works are very different because in Crane's piece the theme is about one young soldier who wants to be remembered after the civil war as war hero and eventually have a statue built in his honor. In Komunyakaa's piece the point of view of a whole group of soldiers.
In “Red Badge of Courage” young union soldier Henry, bravely fights alongside his fellow soldiers in his first battle. However once the second battle starts he flees. Through the first four chapters, leading up to the battle, you can see Henry’s apprehension slowly rise. The army is constantly moving, which makes him and his fellow soldiers uneasy. After his regiment is finally settled into one position, young Henry’s first battle begins.
At the beginning of the story, Henry is a naive young soldier who finds his worth in how others treat him. As he entered the army he “...basked in the smiles of the girls and was patted and complimented by old men, [and] he had felt growing within him the strength to do mighty deeds of arms” (6). Henry’s definition of bravery is strictly based on the praise he gets from others for his own actions. He has no sense of true courage or integrity that comes from within. After his first few battles,one in which he was forced to fight and the other in which he ran, Henry battles with his own internal demons.
With each event that passed Henry seemed to be more ready to fight for his friends and not for his
Although Crane and Komunyakaa are both poets, they have their differences. Crane is writing about the civil war while Komunyakaa wrote about his experience of the Vietnam war. Crane’s historical background is inspired by reading about soldiers and their experience first handedly. “The Red Badge of Courage” is more of a psychological portrait of the main character’s perception in a time of war relating to Henry Fleming's experience in combat. Komunyakaa wrote his poem based on his personal experience of actually being there in the vietnam war serving as an information specialist.
The Red Badge of Courage is the story of Henry Fleming, a teenage boy who romanticized the glories of war. He enlists in the Union army during The Civil War despite his mother 's disencouragement. Henry 's regiment is a group of men some excited for battle, others anxious. Henry however felt as if he didn 't fit into the group, he was a bit more reserved and private. Soon after enlisting he discovers war wasn 't quite what he had imagined.
As they tend to say “Curiosity kills the cat. ” In this book “The Red Badge of Courage” the young boy Henry tends to flee from his second battle. That is quite strange because we would think someone would run from their first battle because they should be scared of what is going to happen. The reason why henry didn’t flee the first battle was because first off, henry probably thought that since he could conquer the first battle that the second got too intense for him.
Henry decided to go back to the war and fight alongside his friends. Finally Henry in The Red Badge Courage is a good example of a person showing physical courage in a stressful situation like war. In both the “Life of Frederick Douglass” and The Red Badge of Courage there is also a common theme of Mental courage.
Conflict is very important to a story it makes it interesting, some stories have one conflict some have more than one. A great example of multiple conflicts in a story is in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell man versus man is the most relevant conflict. Man versus nature is the first conflict seen in the story. Man versus himself is a conflict between Rainsford, the story's protagonist, and himself throughout the short story. In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, there is man versus man, man versus nature and man versus himself.
Conflict is one of the most basic elements of natural human behavior. Conflict, from a literary standpoint, serves its purpose to create tension within a story, which as a result keeps readers interested and engaged. Whether the conflict is with another person, with nature, or within yourself, it is ubiquitous and unavoidable. In Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, the struggles that Henry faces help to give depth and meaning to the story, as well as develop Henry as a character.
Courage is an ideal created in one’s mind that can only be gained through self-acceptance. Courage can be a trait others see, however the question is whether or not one sees it in oneself. Stephen Crane’s artfully crafted novel, The Red Badge of Courage, depicts this inner conflict through a young solider in search of glory on the battlefield, Henry Fleming. Set during the Battle of Chancellorsville (1863), the raging Civil War provides the perfect backdrop for the novel. Stephen Crane published The Red Badge of Courage in October 1895 and masterfully portrayed his ‘Youths’ internal struggle.
First person. For centuries the notion of war as an exciting and romantic endeavor has existed until Stephen Crane DE glorified war in his novel The Red Badge of Courage. He tells about the true nature and experience of war through a young soldier Henry Fleming and contrasts it with his romantic imagination. Crane introduces a more realistic approach to war which is in contrast to Henry’s expectations.
A Soldier’s Dilemma Like many others in his regiment, Henry Fleming, protagonist in The Red Badge of Courage, expects the Battle of Chancellorsville to be filled with heroism and legendary acts of dauntless heroism. Heroism, however, seems nowhere to be found, and Henry is left questioning his own valor. In The Red Badge of Courage, Crane writes Henry Fleming as a flawed yet good-hearted character by revealing his inner thoughts as he runs from the battle, his actions directed toward comrades, and by displaying Henry’s differences at the end of the story to emphasize the inner struggle between courage and cowardice.
In The Red Badge of Courage, the theme of courage is tied to masculinity. At first, Henry Fleming feels like he can’t prove himself without first proving his valor. In all, his courage is proven through his proven through his deep commitment and greater cause of the Union Army. We also see Warfare as a theme of The Red Badge of Courage. Crane does his best to embrace the thoughts and ideas of war from a single perspective contrary to a group view as well as the psychological battles faced by an individual, which can sometimes be seen as far more important than the battles actually fought on the field.
There are three types of conflict present in the lives of all people. Struggles are necessary in real and fictional narratives to advance the storyline and to help one reach their goals. These obstacles are particularly abundant in action stories. A classic adventure story, Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” demonstrates the aforementioned three types of conflicts, man versus nature, man versus man, and man versus self. Conflict between man and nature is exhibited in the short story “The Most Dangerous Game”.
