The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The first steps in war are the steps of overcoming the line of comfort by solving the self-centered beliefs that will break you in a battlefront. Once overcoming those selfish traits and believe in yourself, that is when one flourish on the battle field. Henry Fleming's urge for war was short lived when he was put on the frontline. Henry Fleming was a fearful, coward, who always gained self-control and self-comfort by talking to himself. He exhibited selfish traits throughout the book. Leading up to the Armageddon of the war, Henry overcame his selfish ways and delivered the rebel army their final blow. In The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane Henry Fleming overcomes fear, cowardice, and egotism which in all lead him to becoming a major helpful and admired hand in beating the rebel army.

Henry Fleming fear leads him to two different paths throughout the book. Once he overcomes his fear, he is one step closer to becoming a helpful hand in beating the rebel army. Henry begins to think about what war is really like, and he comes upon a strong point when he asks fellow men in his regiment "think any of the boys'll run" (Crane9)? His fears cause him to run from battle. The men in his regiment do not help Henry because they are all o...

... middle of paper ...

...

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henrys urge for courage did not come to him at the beginning of the war but at the end. Once he finally overcame fear, gained courage, and used egotism to his advantage war became easy and fulfilling. With Henry coming into terms with his inner self and not letting it take him over he became the true soldier that he set out to be. Most veterans today can tell of difficulties and obstacles that they once had to overcome to keep alive, such as Henry would be able to tell. The biggest battle is not the war in front of ones face, but the battle within that one has to conquer to keep alive in the hash realities of battle.

Work Sited

Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York: Unabridged Dover, 1990