Masculinity In The Red Badge Of Courage

On October 5th, 1895, Stephen Crane published a thrilling and intriguing novel called the Red Badge of Courage. The novel itself took place in Virginia between the years 1861-1865 and focused on showing how an adolescent Civil War soldier faced his fears on the battlefield. The soldier known as Henry Fleming, began to second guess himself while in the middle of fighting in the Battle of Chancellorsville. This sudden feeling of fear, then caused the protagonist to make a series of rash decisions that would greatly affect his future. The genre of this amazing piece of literature is historical fiction and war drama.

To begin with, one major theme that continually played a part throughout the entire book is masculinity. The main character Henry

Fleming believed that he couldn't be a real or true man without first proving he was worthy of being one. Though, this belief changes as the novel progresses. Instead of thinking that in order to be a man you had to be brave and rugged , Henry now understood that there was more to being a man than just his physical appearance. That acceptance and confidence were some of the major contributors in transitioning into a man. One instance where Henry first sees a change in his point of view is when he stumbles upon his lieutenant. Henry states “there was something curious in this little intent pause of the lieutenant. He was like a babe which, having wept it's fill, raises his eyes and fixes upon a distant toy. He was engrossed in this contemplation, and the soft under lip quivered from self-whispers words”(Crane 107).Before, Henry saw his lieutenant as the perfect example of a what a proper man should be, but now after seeing his superior in a childlike state he realises that his definition of a man was inaccurate.
In continuation, another theme within Stephen Crane’s amazing book is death. In any wartime novel, the theme of death is a recurring one. Throughout the story, Henry would sometimes desire ending his life and would've rather preferred to endure that fate, than be stuck in the front lines fighting a massive war. To Henry death was an escape, a place where all his troubles would simply vanish. A place where he could finally be listened to. For example, Henry exclaims “he had concluded that it would be better to get killed directly and end his trouble. Regarding death thus out of the corner of his eye, he conceived it to be nothing but rest”(Crane 28). He believed that death was the answers to all his problems. That “he would die [and then] he would go to some place where he would be understood”(Crane 28). He saw dying as a way of freeing himself from the reality of the life he was living.
Thirdly, the reality of war was another theme that occurred within The Red Badge of Courage.

Many of the soldiers who enlisted into the war discovered that their assumptions were completely amiss. To them, war was all about glory and exhilarating battles that they would one day be able to tell to their adoring families. Instead, they were confronted with death, fear and even some terrifying moments. Stephen Crane makes it known that the troops were never prepared for what the war was going to throw at them. Henry being one of these naive soldiers absolutely saw and experienced all the cruelties that resulted from this negative event in history. One of these harsh occasions in particular was when Henry witnesses the decease of one of his good friends Jim Conklin. After discovering that the soldier had been shot while in battle Henry starts to notice how pale and weak Jim was becoming. These symptoms then led to the fateful end of Jim Conklin’s life. Succeeding Jim's passing Henry remarks that he “desired to screech out his grief [and that] he was stabbed, but his tongue lay dead in the tomb of his mouth”(Crane 57). He then “threw himself again upon the ground and began to brood”(Crane 57). These quotes shows exactly how the reality of war played a part on Henry's emotions. From this Henry noticed and beared how truly horrific the civil war was. Now he viewed the war as dreadful and wretched all because of that one eye opening

incident.
Furthermore, although The Red Badge of Courage was an exciting and wonderful story, it still did have its shortcomings.

For example, the novel contained a great deal of difficult dialect. Many of the lines within the book had shortened words and phrases in them, making it complicated to understand and interpret. In particular, one line that stands out is “We’re goin’ t’ move t’ morrah”(Crane 1). Words like morrah and move t’ are not commonly spoken during this time period. In addition, another quote the relates to this shortcoming is “He’s up an’ gone, ain’t e? An’ he’s alright here”(Crane 57).This manner of speaking was more frequently used in the 1800’s by the americans in the south. By using this outdated language it made the book gruelingly tough to read let alone

comprehend.
Moreover, the descriptions of the characters were also difficult to comprehend. The author most of the time would refer to some of the main people with special nicknames. On page 26 Crane writes “The youth, forgetting his neat plan of getting killed”(Crane 26). Crane refers to the soldier Henry Fleming as the youth countless times as the novel progresses. Stephen Crane also calls Jim Conklin the “tall soldier”(Crane 53).These little false names make the storyline puzzling and harder to follow, and most of these nicknames are not very creative, which makes them more difficult to remember.
Lastly, the good definitely did outweigh the bad. Even though, Henry had retreated from battle and endured the death of his dear friend there was still some positive moments throughout his experience. In the end, Henry was able to transform into a completely different person. He now accepted his decisions and was not afraid of what the future had in store for him. Henry reflects back on his mistakes and quotes that “his eyes seemed to open to some new ways. He found that he could look back upon the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels and see them truly”(Crane 127). He had realized that he wasn’t the same person who had enlisted into the war, and came to terms with the new person he became. Also, Henry ended up winning the Battle of Chancellorsville in the end. By gaining this victory, Henry became recognised by his lieutenant and by all of his fellow companions. Clearly, these two positive instances triumph over those negative ones making the bad be no match to the good.
In conclusion, the astonishing novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane takes place in Virginia during the Civil War. Even though it did have a couple of shortcomings it still found a way to explain all the thoughts that go through a soldier's mind while they progress to war. It also contained multiple themes such as masculinity, death and,the realities of war on every single page. All together the genre of the story was historical fiction and war drama. The novel definitely grasps onto the psychological perspectives of a soldier and makes the realities of war come to life.