Theme Of Incidents In The Life Of Frederick Douglass

On the Shared Themes of John Huston’s Red Badge of Courage and Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass The screenplay The Red Badge of Courage by John Huston, inspired by the novel of the same name by Stephen Crane, and the novel Incidents in the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass focus on content related to the theme of overcoming an inclination to fear and cowardice. Both authors aim to portray the aspect of the human condition that relates to people's ability to overcome significant internal conflicts in pursuit of an external goal. They have identified that is it possible for people to start in a state of fear or unreadiness, succumb to the overwhelming circumstances around them, and, through time

While his fellow soldiers are celebrating the news of marching to war, he is overcome with worry and doubt over his ability to remain steadfast in the face of the Confederate army. He ends up falling victim to his fear and retreating from the battle against orders. After a time, he finds out that his regiment won the battle that he ran from. He decides to return, but remains guilty and fears the mockery and disrespect that he will receive from his comrades. During his journey back to the camp, he encounters a line of soldiers returning home. He sees these wounds, their “red badges of courage,” and wishes he had one so that he would be allowed to return safely home. Alas, he does not have one and is forced to go on. Upon his return, he claims he was fighting on another side of the battlefield, and that goes over well. Something has changed in him. Through that journey, he developed an acceptance of his fear and newfound anger for the battle he finds himself in. In the following battle, when faced with fear, he decides not to run, but to push back against his internal resistance. This results in a tremendous performance in battle, a promotion to general, and a new sense of validation and confidence in

He is being loaned by his owner out to a particularly violent master. After several whippings, threats, beatings, and months of work, Frederick recognizes a lack of joy in himself and feels his broken spirit. One day, he works himself far too hard and collapses. His master’s response is to kick and beat him on the ground until he stands up. Finally, after some time, he manages to stand up and start the long walk to his owner. His owner expresses no sympathy and instead sends him back once he is nursed to passable health. After returning, he has a violent encounter with his master. This time, however, he doesn’t back down and accepts mistreatment. He decides to fight back, and through the hard work of the fields can easily defeat all of his master’s attempts to dominate him. Reflecting on this, Douglass explains that he possessed a newfound peace. He had overcome the depression that was a result of his slavery and beatings, and with that internal victory, he found success in his external conflicts as