"Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood." (George S. Patton) Within this quote is the idea that battle removes all the conflicts of politics and is stripped to a bare minimum where the participants are forced to rely upon their own brute force and will; also hoping that they will survive through the somewhat strategic commands of their generals. when called into battle for your country those men must lose any sense of the well being for their own person and create a sense of duty, fighting for their "manhood" and their …show more content…
Now that battle has been recognized to be ended soon due to loss of many brave men, battle is now about "valor contended against valor" and is once again stripped down to a bare minimum where soldiers must rely up on themselves and their own emotional state to get them through the last leg of the war.
As the violence of war begins to subside, the psychological terrors begins to arise. The Youth's newfound fear of battle was a result of doubt within himself in correspondence with his capability to fight with honor and glory and still make it out of battle alive. Henry's emotions began to deviate from a yearning for glory and confidence, to fear, to depression, to anger and to exhilaration. The rapid change in the youths emotions causes Henry to go crazy with reasoning, ultimately altering the way he perceives not only war but the world as a whole. At the very beginning of the Red Badge of Courage, Henry was ready to launch into the glorified antics of war; after enlisting Henry and a few other head into town where the glorified antics that the youth desires begin. "the youth believed that he must be a hero . . . As he basked in the smiles of the girls and was patted and complimented by the old men, he had felt
In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming was drawn to enlist by his boyhood dreams. His highly romanticized notion of war was eclectic, borrowing from various classical and medieval sources. Nevertheless, his exalted, almost deified, conception of the life of a soldier at rest and in combat began to deflate before the even the ink had dried on his enlistment signature. Soon the army ceased to possess any personal characteristics Henry had once envisioned, becoming an unthinking, dispas...
In every society, throughout all of time fear is present. It is a an evolutionary instinct thought to have kept us alive, throughout the darkest moments in human history. However as time has progressed fear has had an unintended consequences on society, including the suffusion of incomprehension. During the Salem Witch Trials and Cold War a large sense of fear overcame these societies causing tragedy and misinformation to become commonplace. It is in these societies that it is clear that fear is needed to continue a trend of ignorance. Although bias is thought to be essential to injustice, fear is crucial to the perpetuation of ignorance because it blinds reason, suppresses the truth and creates injustice.
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. Henry is somewhat nave, he dreams of glory, but doesn't think much of the duty that follows.
Clashing swords, miraculous survivals, pain of loss, and heroic sacrifice are all terrifying yet thrilling moments in a battle. The strong possibility of death and the frailty of human life add into the suspense of battle. Yet the reasons behind the wars, death, and suspense can be overlooked. The stories behind the warriors who have died will not be told again, but the stories of warriors still alive are what give the men strength to continue fighting against impossible odds. Ultimately, the reason of why a man would risk his life in battle is for someone, or something, he loves.
There are four main themes to me in “The Red Badge of Courage.” These themes are courage, personal growth and maturity, self-preservation, and nature. The theme of courage is what this story is all about really. What is courage? Who has courage? I want courage. How does one obtain courage? This is what Henry wonders and eventually figures out after having a misunderstanding of what bravery and courage was to begin with though. “His self-pride was now entirely restored. In the shade of its flourishing growth he stood with braced and self-confident legs, and since nothing could now be discovered he did not shrink from an encounter with the eyes of judges, and allowed no thoughts of his own to keep him from an attitude of manfulness. He had performed his mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man” (Crane 78). Henry feels that because the other men are giving him praise, then he is right in his behavior. But is this courage? Absolutely not. As Henry marches from battle, the reader is led to believe
The war takes a heavy toll on the soldiers who fight in it. The terror of death will infest the minds of soldiers...
This affects each soldier when the war is finished. When a soldier returns back to his home after the war, he is unable to escape his primitive feelings of survival.
In The Red Badge of Courage, readers are able to picture Henry, the main character, because of the descriptive details. Although the readers are given more information about him mentally, they are still given small details about his physical characteristics. Throughout the entire story, Henry is on a roller coaster dealing with his maturity. He is forced to mature rather quickly and because of his age he has to face many battles within himself.
The soldiers from this novel represent actual feelings about brotherhoods, misperceptions of war and the pointless fighting. They provide clear examples of these with their experiences from war. From sitting on their “boxes” and chatting, to the realization of a friend inside an enemy, these soldiers have been able to see the realities of war and have shared it with the rest of the world. People can now see how horrid it is to be in a war and now they try at all costs to prevent war. War is bad, that’s all there is to it. Not much more you can say about it except that. When viewing the death of innocent people, the question is asked once again, is it really worth it?
Like every other book “The Red Badge of Courage” has plot stages. The plot stages include, exposition, rising action, conflict, falling action, and at last falling action. The exposition is Henry is waiting to be called and goes back to the time when he finally told his mother he was joining
When the battle becomes harsh, and men are stationed throughout the entire land to take down the enemy, you know that people will start to make tide-turning decisions. Such is this example shown by the soldiers at Valley Forge. Who are the “soldiers at Valley Forge” you ask? Well, in the year of 1777, many American soldiers were posted, left to rot, at the winter camp: Valley Forge. This was during the Civil War, and Washington had to find a place to spend the Winter with his soldiers. Many would quit, and so would you, from this certain death for reasons such as poor ventilation that causes an overwhelming presence of smoke, the lack of provisions, as well as, the deadly cold.
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.
Put into another form, “[The Marines] pour forth with the poignant power of superb human beings doing what they believe is truly righteous. There is grace and magnetism in the way these clean-cut kids hurl themselves out of planes, surge through forbidding terrain and leap with awesome fortitude over one barricade after another. The ads use sophisticated psychology to lure today 's peace-loving young adults into our "humanitarian" military.” (Kronstadt, 2014). It’s through these images and power attached to words and amazing propaganda that gets youth to dive into the world of war with the Marines. The ad under analysis, tells the recruit they will get to “walk with honor”, “command with resolve” and “take your place among the most elite warriors on earth”. They get to ‘take their place’, saying it as though they already have their place, as if the place is waiting for them. The ad also highlights the that the Marines are the more elite warriors on earth, the word warrior itself is captivating. Warriors are seen as the best of the best when it comes to fighting, adding on to the that the elite warriors, projects a view of the ultimate, best fighters there could ever be – and for a lot of people, that is beyond exciting. The ad is also illuminating the fact that they will ‘command with resolve’, meaning they will become firm and determined as a leader. The Marines will give them the skillset and knowledge to be able to command and hold people’s lives in their hands by training and lead them into battles – even though that word is not touched upon in any advertisement. The “walk with honour” has already been highlighted in this essay, but it is important to note that honour, patriotism, freedom and democracy are all tied together in...
"The core of a soldier is moral discipline. It is intertwined with the discipline of physical and mental achievement. Total discipline overcomes adversity, and physical stamina draws on an inner strength that says drive on." - Former Sergeant Major of the Army William G. Bainbridge