Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on war literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays on war literature
War isn't a walk in the park, that's a given. But what can come from war other than external wounds are internal blemishes that can only be righted by the mind itself. These faults could be numerous hinderances, such as immatuarity, selfishness, and jealousy, to name a few. In it's storyline, The Red Badge of Courage, acknowledges them all through the thoughts of the main character, Henry, and the friends he makes along the way. Through the materialization of basic human flaw, Stephen Crane yields these traits then fixes them through experience and battle, both inwardly and outwardly. Youth to maturation was a common topic of the novel, and perhaps the most obvious one. The transition the Wilson faced from being the loud soldier in his introduction to a calmer, more mature one was obvious in both his manners of acting and behaviour towards the war effort. Early on, he had the attitude of a youthful, rowdy soldier confident in his ability to overtake the entire confederate army with nothing but gun in hands and boots on the ground (pg 18). When asked by the doubtful Henry on "fighting or flying" in the face of danger, Wilson smugly replied with, '"Run?...run?-of course not!"' Later in the story, before they entered the first battle, Wilson became grim, suddenly unsure of the battle's outcome and the effect it would impose on the regiment. From here on, though the reader is spared of any more detail in pertanence to Wilson (momentarily suggesting his death, as we only see the story in the view of Henry), until Wilson is met up by Henry in the Union camp, seemingly with a softer and more humbled attitude (pg 90). Wilson is the representation of maturation from outspoken, rude, and self-centered to helpful, humble, and unfazed by the ... ... middle of paper ... ...cond battle, he runs from his regiment -somehthing which he is later ashamed of, but not wrong for. Through a series of events, Henry is made to comprehend that there is no justice in war: the good will die, nature will not shed a tear for the lost and chaneges have to be made in order to prevail. And prevail he does after he let's go of his childish jealousy and high-expectations then recognizes he world was made for him. At the end of it all, Henry reaches a matured state not only because on account of his experience, but because of his realizations on how the battle scars don't make a hero, but how his actions and sacrifices made him who he was. He came to an understanding of how in life there are changes, tragedy, and ill-will, all brought together by exuberant, lasting moments of rejoicing, just like real life. Works Cited Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane.
War changes a person in ways that can never be imagined. Living in a war as well as fighting in one is not an experience witnessed in everyday life. Seeing people die every time and everywhere you go can be seen as an unpleasant experience for any individual such as Henry. The experiences that Henry had embraced during the Vietnam War have caused him to become an enraged and paranoid being after the war. It has shaped him to become this individual of anxiety and with no emotions. The narrator says:
We learn that when Henry comes home from the war, he is suffering from PTSD. "It was at least three years before Henry came home. By then I guess the whole war was solved in the governments mind, but for him it would keep on going" (444). PTSD changes a person, and it doesn 't always stem from war. Henry came back a completely different person. He was quiet, and he was mean. He could never sit still, unless he was posted in front of the color TV. But even then, he was uneasy, "But it was the kind of stillness that you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it will bolt"
In the Red Badge of Courage, the protagonist Henry, is a young boy who yearns to be a Great War hero, even though he has never experienced war himself. Anxious for battle, Henry wonders if he truly is courageous, and stories of soldiers running make him uncomfortable. He struggles with his fantasies of courage and glory, and the truth that he is about to experience. He ends up running away in his second battle. Henry is somewhat nave, he dreams of glory, but doesn't think much of the duty that follows.
For example, Henry’s actions in the second battle convey his initial cowardice. In response to the enemy coming back to fight, Henry “ran like blind man” (Crane 57). Henry’s actions illustrate his cowardice since he is afraid to stay and fight and flees instead. However, as Henry matures throughout the novel, he learns to control his fears and show courage through his fighting. For instance, in the battle after Henry rejoins the regiment, Henry “had not deemed it possible that his army could that day succeed, and from this he felt the ability to fight harder” (Crane 133). Henry portrays bravery in this battle, since he still fights with all of his strength, when he believes the enemy would win. Henry’s change from cowardice to bravery is conveyed through his act of running away from battle, to fighting courageously in
Henry suffers from retrograde amnesia due to internal bleeding in the part of the brain that controls memory. This causes him to forget completely everything he ever learned. His entire life is forgotten and he has to basically relearn who he was, only to find he didn’t like who he was and that he didn’t want to be that person. He starts to pay more attention to his daughter and his wife and starts to spend more time with them.
In the first part of the novel, Henry is a youth that is very inexperienced. His motives were impure. He was a very selfish and self-serving character. He enters the war not for the basis of serving his country, but for the attainment of glory and prestige. Henry wants to be a hero. This represents the natural human characteristic of selfishness. Humans have a want and a need to satisfy themselves. This was Henry's main motive throughout the first part of the novel. On more than one occasion Henry is resolved to that natural selfishness of human beings. After Henry realizes that the attainment of glory and heroism has a price on it. That price is by wounds or worse yet, death. Henry then becomes self-serving in the fact that he wants to survive for himself, not the Union army. There is many a time when Henry wants to justify his natural fear of death. He is at a point where he is questioning deserting the battle; in order to justify this, he asks Jim, the tall soldier, if he would run. Jim declared that he'd thought about it. Surely, thought Henry, if his companion ran, it would be alright if he himself ran. During the battle, when Henry actually did take flight, he justified this selfish deed—selfish in the fact that it did not help his regiment hold the Rebs—by natural instinct. He proclaimed to himself that if a squirrel took flight when a rock was thrown at it, it was alright that he ran when his life was on the line.
Not only was the war bloody and violent but also the soldier's had to deal with bad weather, poor clothing and malnutrition. This particular setting is important to "the red badge of courage" because the book is about courage and bravery. To fight in these harsh conditions you must be courageous and brave. Many times Henry wanted to back out and he did once he found courage in himself and he fought till the very end. Without Henry's courage he would not of been able to overcome this
This idea Henry has gotten in his mind about war being so exciting and making heroes makes a lot of sense. War has always been something that is glamorized in the world. Whether it be a book about it or a movie, war always seems like something fascinating. They make it seem war is this fascinating adventure that changes you for the better and you are seen as a hero afterwards. Henry takes a lot from the Greek gods where a lot of them are war heroes. What people don't realize is that these stories and movies are not realistic. They show war in a prettier way. They romanticize it and make it something better than it really is.
War is not meant to be glorified. War is not meant to look easy. Stephen Crane was one of the few authors during his era who realized this fantasy-like aura around war and battles and decided to do something about it. The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, was inspired by Crane’s life and his desire to portray the realistic side of war.
At the beginning, Henry Fleming has an undeveloped identity because his inexperience limits his understanding of heroism, manhood, and courage. For example, on the way to war, “The regiment was fed and caressed at station after station until the youth [Henry] had believed that he must be a hero” (Crane 13). Since he has yet to fight in war, Henry believes a hero is defined by what others think of him and not what he actually does. The most heroic thing he has done so far is enlist, but even that was with ulterior motives; he assumes fighting in the war will bring him glory, yet another object of others’ opinions. At this point, what he thinks of himself is much less important than how the public perceives him. As a result of not understanding
Henry's final step in maturation was finally made through the sacrifice of his companions, and their pressuring him to lead the charge. The reaction of one soldier to another is the basis of war, as camaraderie is the methodology by which wars are won. Henry gave witness to the horrors of war, the atrocities of battle, the deaths of his friends, and later a life of victory. The ultimate transformation in Henry's character leading to a mature temperament was found by finding himself in the confusion of war and companionship.
middle of paper ... ... In conclusion, the character of Henry dominates the play throughout. overshadowing the other characters in the story. He is a religious man, reinforced.
Through high moral character Henry established credibility with the audience through creating a setting that aroused feelings in the people at the convention in order to convince them they had to fight for more than just peace. The goal Henry had when he spoke about war was to be honest with the crowd and point out that they needed to do something now or they would loose not just what he loved, but what they also loved. Henry said “If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending...and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight!”. In this quote the tactic of ethics is apparent in that Henry wanted to achieve a personal level of connection with the audience and establish his credibility. By relating losing the war it also meant the lose of their feelings of comfort and contentm...
...ry is finally faced with his first battle he fights like a mad man. But when the bullets start to fly gain he runs like a rabbit as far away from it as he can. He feels bad about running away though. He gets the chance to prove himself when another battle breaks and this time he pushes himself and his fellow soldiers to fight. At the end we don’t see the boy from the beginning of the book, we see a mature man, who has just helped win the war. Henry does feel bad about running away though. But he feels great about everything else. Henry comes to terms that like all men, he has weaknesses and strengths. He just needs to find out what they are. So in other words henry feels like his experiences with war have changed him. He also feel a great manhood, that’s non-assertive but sturdy and of strong blood. Henry also felt his soul had changed because of his experiences.
The state of affairs and the grim reality of the war lead Henry towards an ardent desire for a peaceful life, and as a result Henry repudiates his fellow soldiers at the warfront. Henry’s desertion of the war is also related to his passionate love for Catherine. Henry’s love for Catherine is progressive and ironic. This love develops gradually in “stages”: Henry’s attempt at pretending love for Catherine towards the beginning of the novel, his gradually developing love for her, and finally, Henry’s impas... ...