The Theme of Courage in Red Badge of Courage

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The Theme of Courage in Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage is a fictional psychological portrait of a young soldier named Henry Fleming, tracing the thread of his emotions and reactions to events that transpire during an unnamed battle of the Civil War (spark notes). Henry is an average farmer from New York. Henry wants to go to war and become a hero like the one he read about in his school. The story starts off with everyone sitting in regiment camp by the river with rumors flowing around. While everyone is thinking about what they will do in war, Henry was thinking of how is he going to react when he goes to the battlefields. How would he react if he was to die? He said, no matter what happens he will not run from a fight. Two of the other guys in the army had about the same courage as Henry, but none of them ever said that they will not run away. Before he can go on to fight in battle, the army puts him in a battle to see if he runs away from fight or not.

The northern army is finally put on the move and marched across the river, where they meet with Southern forces. Henry's regiment takes a reserve position, so Henry gets to see a battle before going in to an action himself. Finally his regiment drives back the enemy and Henry feels a joy of success. Then enemy charges again, but Henry flees thinking his regiment will be overrun by the enemy. As he running and trying to justify to himself why he is running.

When he gets to the woods he sees a dead man in a clearing. Henry takes the man and runs to the army's rear to get the man some help. Instead he finds his friend Jim Conkin from his regiment, who has been shot in the side. Henry tried to help Jim with another man called "Tattered Soldier." Jim could not hold on and died. After Jims death, Henry felt angry and left the Tattered Soldier alone to die in field, but it always came back to haunt Henry.

After he leaves the Tattered Soldier, he sees the enemy charging and rushes back to the union regiment.

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