What Does Henry Fleming Symbolize In The Red Badge Of Courage

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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