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The Red Badge Of Courage: Henry's Journey Through War

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The Red Badge of Courage: Henry’s Journey through War Stephen Crane, a well-known late 19th century writer, was born November 1, 1871. He was born into a huge family that based their life on religion and societal change: “He was the son of a Methodist minister and a social reform-minded mother; but he systematically rejected religious and social tradition and identified with the urban poor” (Baym 943). Crane was a scholarly student who went to Lafayette College and Syracuse University. Later, he decided to pursue a career in writing by going to New York City after finishing his collegiate pursuits. Crane became an expert at being “an observer of psychological and social reality” when he wrote “journalistic assignments that allowed him to …show more content…

Red Badge utilizes irony to contrast Henry’s romantic perception and anti-romantic realities of war. These instances are found throughout the novel. The title exhibits irony because Henry never receives an official red badge of courage. In addition, it is ironic that the injury for which Henry receives his “red badge of courage” is due to friendly fire instead of enemy action. This occurs while Henry is running from battle deserting his friends in need which is the opposite of courage, and yet he conceals the truth from his friends and becomes known as the courageous fighter he has always hoped he would become. Giorgio Mariani, writer of the article “Spectacle and Ideology in Red Badge of Courage,” mentions Henry’s view of war quickly changes from being romanticized where “he had read of marches, sieges, conflicts, and he had longed to see it all…His busy mind had drawn for him large pictures extravagant in color, lurid with breathless deeds” (Mariani). Subsequently, his view becomes one where he lost his romanticized view of war and begins to think that his regiment is “taking him out to be slaughtered (Crane 10).Overall, Henry’s thoughts on his involvement on the battlefield have been derailed by the anti-romantic reality of war, and has made him into a coward by fleeing during battle. Irony plays into Henry’s characterization by proving how everything is not black and white. Nonetheless, Henry gets a differing perspective of war which makes him aware of having realistic expectations in his everyday life outside of the Battle of Chancellorsville

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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.

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He struggles to reconcile his actions with his previous definition of courage and finds his own definition being forced to changed. After receiving his own red badge of courage and fighting in a battle successfully, Henry finds courage in becoming a piece of the war machine, a part of the cause behind the fighting. When he holds the flag he finds his purpose and is “...capable of profound sacrifices” and instead of wishing for a glorified death to gain ultimate praise he found that “...he thought of the bullets only as things that could prevent him from reaching the place of his endeavor” (118). As Henry held to the flag and led the soldiers without recognition, he found his true

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Historical Analysis Red Badge of courage reflects the time it takes place because it takes place during the civil war. The teenage boy wants to go fight in the war, which was common back then, because it brings you great honor. The Battle of Chancellorsville resembles the first battle Henry takes part in. When Henry runs away and finds himself in a forest it resembles this battle because it took place in a forest as well. Some strategies also appear in the book like splitting into two attack parties instead of one large one.

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In “the Red Badge of Courage” the Narrator only focuses on one main character “the youth,” Henry Fleming's is more of an outsider. Henry is just watching other soldiers fight while he’s doing his own. “The separation was as great to him as if they had marched with weapons of flame and banners of sunlight. He could never be like them.” It tells us how isolated he is.

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The American Civil War is glorified by Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage by revealing how soldiers are brainwashed about how they will all die a heroic death. “He had of course dreamed of battles all his life, nevertheless the next morning he had gone to town that was near his mother’s farm and enlisted in a company that was forming there(Crane 9)”. This proves how Henry Fleming who is the main character in the novel, is taught that by enlisting in the war one will become a man and die a war hero which is why he has dreamed of going into battle his whole life but as shown in the novel this is not the case for everyone. On the battlefield Henry is surrounded by people dying and getting hurt. “One was swearing that he had been shot in

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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.

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To begin with, The Red Badge of Courage does not show an “absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil,” because throughout the novel, good deeds are shown, and Henry finds role models that are ideals of virtue in war. For example, the loud soldier takes care of Henry after Henry has supposedly been shot in the head, and he lets the youth use his bed and blankets for the night. According to O’Brien, that would not be done in a war story, because in them there is no virtue, there is only an uncompromisable allegiance to evil. No story with that allegiance to evil in it would show kindness, or men taking care of one another. Despite Henry giving the reader several examples of slipping

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In the book The Red Badge of Courage, young Henry enters into battle. Henry enlisted because he heard so many great stories from the soldiers camped outside the town where he lived, and he wanted to be a soldier. He had also read of the war with ideas of valor. However, when he gets into battle he has many conflicted feelings.

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In the story “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephen Crane, Henry Fleming, is a young private who volunteered for the infantry against his mother's wishes. Having "dreamed of battles all his life," Henry has romantic notions of war influenced by Greek classics such as the Iliad. After experiencing the realities of army life, he becomes plagued by doubts and fears. As the novel progresses, Henry overcomes his fears and guilt to become one of the fiercest, most aggressive soldiers in the regimen. Henry conquers doubt and accepts duty by showing the confidence and courage to become the most aggressive soldiers in his regimen.

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Henry throughout the story has proved to be a hero by inspiring confidence in his comrades, doing the most dangerous job in the civil war, and leading his comrades to victory. When people read The Red Badge of Courage they either think Henry is a hero or a coward. In the book Henry picked up the flag from a wounded comrade, which proved his couragousness. Henry lead his teammates into battle showing them peace was on the other side. Henry also guided his regiment to take the other flag bearer, and taking several prisoners of war.

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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.

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The violence in this book is witnessed by an eighteen year old young man fighting in the Civil War. Henry Fleming is a young private in the Union Army, who worries about his courage and deserts his regiment. He grapples with emotions of cowardice and ultimately returns to his regiment and returns to battle. Through The Red Badge of Courage, teenagers can see how

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In The Red Badge of Courage Henry realizes that courage is achieved through admitting mistakes and correcting them, not by false means and selfish motives.

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This passage gives the reader the idea that Henry’s inner battle is over, and the novel comes to a close shortly after. Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage, writes Henry Fleming deeply flawed yet morally virtuous through his thoughts in and after battle, how he treats his friends, and the changes that he experiences as a character to show the triumph of bravery over faintheartedness. As Henry wrestles with

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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.

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