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Red badge of courage literary criticism
Conclusions about the theme of the red badge of courage
Conclusions about the theme of the red badge of courage
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Lukas Remeika
Period 4 American Literature
Ms. Collins
1 March 2014
Response/Analysis
1. The novel I read is called “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephen Crane. It was published by Bantam Dell in 1895 and contains 133 pages.
2. During the time, America was going through civil war. The US was dealing with internal conflicts for territory and power and the British came in to gain power in the US.
3. After finishing the novel, I felt relieved. The book was somewhat a bore and not as expected. While reading the book, I somewhat imagined my self in Henry’s place. During times of trouble, I tend to gain courage to do a reckless activity to make sure what must be achieved is complete. Henry during war, gained courage to go out ahead of the league and oppose a threat to his enemy even by risking his life. Although I could not risk my life like he had, going beyond ones expectations is what I would like to do.
4. During my annotations, I mostly focused on the character, Henry, and how he changed form an average young boy to a heroic and courageous man. He ran away from war with fear only to return with a will to fight.
5. Henry Fleming, the novel’s main character was a young soldier fighting for the Union army during the American Civil War. As the novel advances, Henry encounters the difficult roads of war. These encounters displayed the insignificance of his own life. Henry held dreamy views about himself yet learned his lesson when he first runs from battle. Scared and incompetent, Henry realized what he had to do and then comes back as a true soldier in combat. Another character in the novel was Wilson. Wilson, although a loud private soldier, was Henry’s friend in the division. Wilson and Henry grew close as they shared the difficult e...
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.... The authors uses the color red for symbolism. The quote, "From across the river the red eyes were still peering" (Kazin 56) represents fear and enemies. It show that there is blood and war relations across the river.
13. Self-preservation is the main theme in “The Red Badge of Courage.”
14. Two main literary theories were used, Marxist and Psychoanalytical theories. They demonstrated both the society and ranking of soldiers and also the feelings and thoughts of Henry and his comrades.
15. From this text, I learned hat war is not easy. It plays with both your mind and body. I realized that I would not want to go to war, even if it were for my country. War is an irrational solution to what people may argue about. Risking lives and losing things one may love is not worth the risk. All in all, I found this novel somewhat a bore and not what I would be interested in.
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. Sculley Bradley, Richard Beatty, and E. Hudson Long Eds. New York: W.W. Norton, 1962.
Henry's first-person narrative is the most important element of these stories. Through it he recounts the events of his life, his experiences with others, his accomplishments and troubles. The great achievement of this narrative voice is how effortlessly it reveals Henry's limited education while simultaneously demonstrating his quick intelligence, all in an entertaining and convincing fashion. Henry introduces himself by introducing his home-town of Perkinsville, New York, whereupon his woeful g...
...s inner self. What is seen as a relationship amongst these two young men is now torn apart by the transformation of Henry caused from his witnesses during warfare.
Events of crisis tend to reveal people’s true character, as well as help those people learn from the experience. Decisions people make during crises can display what kind of personality they have. In The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane, the youthful main protagonist, Henry, decides to join the army. In the beginning of the novel, Henry exhibits multiple cowardly qualities. However, through a series of battles, Henry learns more about himself and begins to become a remarkably brave soldier. Henry’s transformation from cowardice to bravery is portrayed through Henry’s change in thoughts, actions, and dialogue.
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.
“The Red Badge of Courage” was written by Stephen Crane in 1985 as a fictional tale of a soldier of the Civil War. With its accurate depictions, readers were led to believe that Crane had at one time been a soldier. This was however not the case. Crane has a unique way of using themes and symbols in “The Red badge of Courage” to relay a very realistic portrayal of war.
The Red Badge of Courage takes place during the Civil war and begins with a soldier named Jim Conklin returning back to his regiment to inform them that they might go into battle any day now. The main character of the story Henry Fleming who was recently recruited in the 304th regiment begins to worry about how brave he really is since he has never really been in battle before. The main reason he joined the army was for the honor and glory that came after the battle but he never really analyzed what it took to gain all the glory and honor that he wanted to obtain.
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
Gibson, Donald B. The Red Badge of Courage: Redefining the Hero. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.
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.
In chapter nine, Henry shows his brave character once again. In Paula, Henry was installed in a roadside trench. Some of the men were hungry so Henry volunteered to go and fetch some cold macaroni from the other side of the trench. The major advised him against it and said, “You better wait until the shelling is over.” Henry replied, “They want to eat.” (53) As Henry and the others came back to the dugout, shelling began and bombs burst around them. Then the blast furnace door swung open and Henry was badly injured. This incident showed his selfless courage and bravery. He did not have to do it, yet he went and got the food anyway. Henry risked his life for the others, and that is another true sign of bravery.
The Red Badge of Courage is not a war novel. It is a novel about life. This novel illustrates the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Stephen Crane uses the war as a comparison to everyday life. He is semi-saying that life is like a war. It is a struggle of warriors—the every day people—against the odds. In these battles of everyday life, people can change. In The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry Fleming, undergoes a character change that shows how people must overcome their fears and the invisible barriers that hold them back from being the best people—warriors, in the sense that life is war—they can be. Henry has a character change that represents how all humans have general sense of fear of the unknown that must be overcome.
Gibson, Donald B. The Red Badge of Courage: Redefining the Hero. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.
Green is an image of the natural world and of the army’s youth, while red in the previous quote is clearly and image of battle. In the beginning, however, Crane uses red to describe distant campfires: “…one could see across the red, eye-like gleam of the hostile campfires set in the low brows of the distant hills” (1). Obviously, the fires are red, but Henry characterizes the blazes as the enemy’s glowing eyes. He continues this metaphor in the second chapter: “ From across the river, the deep red eyes were still peering” (15). Crane then transforms this metaphor into arrogance used throughout the text: “Staring once at the red eyes across the river, he conceived then to be growing larger, as the orbs of a row of dragons advancing” (16). The red campfires come to represent eyes of the enemy, of dragons.
Theme is a literary element used in literature and has inspired many poets, playwrights, and authors. The themes of love and war are featured in literature, and inspire authors to write wartime romances that highlight these two themes. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms deals with the collective themes in the human experience such as love and the reality of war. A Farewell to Arms is narrated from the perspective of Fredric Henry, an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and pertains to his experiences in the war. The novel also highlights the passionate relationship between Henry and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse in Italy. Henry’s insight into the war and his intense love for Catherine emphasize that love and war are the predominant themes in the novel and these themes contribute to bringing out the implicit and explicit meaning of the novel. Being a part of the Italian army, Henry is closely involved with the war and has developed an aversion to the war. Henry’s association with the war has also made him realise that war is inglorious and the sacrifices made in war are meaningless. Specifically, Henry wants the war to end because he is disillusioned by the war and knows that war is not as glorious as it is made up to be. 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...