Courage In Jim Conklin's The Red Badge Of Courage

A scar does not define a man’s character, the actions of a man defines his character. In the novel, The Red Badge of Courage, it takes place in the Battle of Chancellorsville during the Civil War, a Union regiment set up a fort and was resting along a riverbank weeks. A tall soldier named Jim Conklin spreads a rumor that the regiment will soon be leaving. The main character Henry Fleming, was recruited into the 304th Regiment, and was worried that he might not have enough courage. He fears that if he were to see battle, he might run away from the battle. The narrator reveals that Henry joined the army because he was drawn to the glory of military conflict. Since the time he joined, however, the army is merely waiting for engagement. Later chapter Henry regiment is confronted with a battle and after he is fighting himself due to his cowardly actions and his thought of becoming a man. Henry believes if he gets a red badge, which is a wound, would bring him honor, heroism, and show that he is a man. In the first couple of chapters Henry is confronted with death his actions prove otherwise, his actions during battle are not guided by an internal moral compass rather; his choices on the battlefield are compulsive and reactionary. In most readers’ eyes Henry is a becomes a hero and gains courage at the end of this novel, but in this paper it will show a different view about Henry and how is not a hero and still was a coward, how his actions were not heroic but more based along the lines of selfish and impulsive desire.

One of the main themes in the novel, The Red Badge of Courage, is courage itself. Courage is defined as, “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear” ("Coura...

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...ng the battle as much as he wanted to be a hero. Heroes have no shame in their lives, from who they are to where they came from.

At the beginning of the book The Red Badge of Courage, Henry is troubled with the memories of him deserting him men on the front lines of battle. “They sometimes fly; they sometimes sulk; they sometimes change; they sometimes strut. They change and they change as a result of incident which, in this respect, does not affirm, but forms their character” (Klotz) Over the course of time he finds some courage in himself to stand and fight. He not a Hero for doing so due to the fact he still ran away the second battle and his actions were not based on his moral foundation but, more on his selfish desire to try and prove that he is a man. We are responsible for our own actions and our actions define us as a person along with our character.