Psychoanalytic Theory with Henry Fleming The theory of psychoanalysis is used in order to determine how a character’s personality, conscience, and ego contributes to his or her actions (verywellmind.com). By analyzing these character’s thoughts, it can easily be seen why a character takes part in an idea or action (public.wsu.edu). Today, people will often want to have a title placed on them in order for themselves to feel better or for others to view them as a greater figure. However, many do not want to put the effort forth in order to receive honest recognition and would rather it be given to them instead. In the book, “The Red Badge of Courage,” what drives the main character to take part in certain behaviors stems from him wanting …show more content…
The most prominent example of this type of situation that occurs in the book is when Henry lies about what his injury was really caused by (Crane 71). Henry wanted nothing more than to be considered a hero. He thought by obtaining an injury he would obtain his “red badge of courage” and become one (Crane 50). However, when he truly did receive an injury, he felt that its cause was not considered heroic, but merely idiotic. The wound to him was considered idiotic because it happened when he had no idea what was going on and because the wound was due to his own comrade hitting him in the head with the back of a rifle (Crane 66). This had caused him to lie about its real cause, claiming that it was from an enemy soldier shooting him in the head when he got separated from the company (Crane 71-72). Henry also did not want to be the reason why his company was considered useless and did not want to be responsible for its failures. Not wanting to take the blame for any of this caused him to deflect the blame on anyone but himself. He blamed the leadership of the generals for how the soldiers fought, which also allowed him to hide his fear and portray his confidence over the situation even though he was questioned by another comrade on his part in the fight that happened the day before (Crane