Recognizing His Duty

“Jim-Jim- what are you doing- what makes you do this way- you’ll hurt yerself (p.43).”

            The quote above is right after the first battle that Henry did not fight in.  Prior to the battle Henry had many dreams of war and he pictured himself actually fighting in battle, but as soon as the first gun went off he was gone.  Many of the soldiers actually though that Henry had been wounded.  At this point Henry begins to question his courage and then the shock of reality becomes much greater when his friend Jim comes stumbling back.

            Jim is someone Henry looks up to for his courage and guidance in life.  Before going to battle Henry asked Jim if he thought anyone would run away from the battle, not knowing he would do so.  Already feeling guilty and ashamed of his selfish actions, he now feels like he has betrayed his dead friend and his other companions.  As Jim died in front of him, Henry’s whole attitude towards battle changed.  Before Jim’s death Henry was not sure if he belonged in war, but now he has a motive.  He wants to attain a red badge of courage and to fight in Jim’s Honor. 

            In the next battle Henry becomes animal like in his actions, and disregards any worries he used to have.  In both of the battles he goes by his natural instincts.  Although the reactions to the situation were completely opposite they were still natural.  In the first battle he reacts as the squirrel did when he threw the nut at it.  In the battle after Jim died he acts like an angry animal. 

            Although Jim’s death was very sad for Henry, it also changed him for the better.  He realized what it took to be courageous, because he watched his friend die a courageous death.  Henry views battle much differently after the death.  He recognizes that it is his duty to go out and fight for his side and if he dies in the act of duty he will be remembered as a courageous and brave man.

            The quote is very important to the novel because it completely changes the outcome of the story.  Henry changes his ways and, although Jim’s spirit will live on Henry is finishing where Jim left off.  Henry feels that it is his duty to serve courageously just as his friend did. 

           

            

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The Irony of Death

“Finally, the chest of the doomed soldier began to heave with a strained motion. It increased in violence until it was as if an animal was within and was kicking and tumbling furiously to be free.” (p.43)

The preceding passage is the scene when Henry finds his long-time friend from his hometown, Jim, and realizes that Jim has been shot. He tries to help Jim, but Jim refuses and tells Henry “don’t tech me — leave me be.” The above passage describes Henry watching his good friend die in a very ironically animated and lively way. Henry is then enraged, but only shakes his fist at the battlefield in the name of his friend’s death.

Jim is a soldier who Henry looks up to in terms of bravery, because at that point in the novel, Henry is very ashamed of running away. He looks up to Jim because he is a very brave soldier who seems invincible to him. Ironically, his bravery has caused him to die, showing that he is not immortal at all.

The fact that Jim dies is ironic, initially, to the reader, but the way he died generally does not come to mind. He dies “as if an animal was within and was kicking and tumbling furiously to be free.” (p. 43) The way Jim dies is very lively and has references to the liveliness of nature. The scene not only shows the liveliness of Jim’s naturalistic death, but also the religious references to death in war in general.

The liveliness of his death is evident through this description and, also, a quote from the narrator about the scene of nature at the end of chapter IX, “The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer.” (p. 44) The wafer is a reference to communion, which is the remembrance of the last supper before Jesus not only died, but forgave people of all sins so that they may have eternal life. The wafer symbolizes Jim’s eternal life, making the reader’s thought of Jim’s ironical death ironic.

Jim’s death is a symbol of how lively death can be. The scene not only physically depicts his death as being lively, but also figuratively suggests that Jim will live on forever through Jesus Christ. The wafer-like sun symbolizes the body of Christ in communion, referring to Christ forgiving all sins, allowing his spirit to live on in heaven.

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The Question of Bravery

“He wished, without reserve, that he was at home again making the endless rounds… He remembered he had often cursed the brindle cow and her mates… But, from his present point of view, there was a halo of happiness about each of their heads, and he would have sacrificed all the brass buttons on the continent to have been enabled to return to them. He told himself that he was not formed for a soldier. And he mused seriously upon the radical differences between himself and the men who were dodging implike around the fires.” (p.14)

To a soldier in a foreign situation far away from his routine of life, suddenly the dull day-to-day activities of his former life seem idyllic.  Throughout the Red Badge of Courage, Henry, the main character, struggles with the hardships of war.  In this passage Henry, also referred to as the youth, is beginning to regret his choice of joining the war.  As he explained in the first chapter, Henry has had dreams of being a hero but, actually seeing what war is like, his dreams change.

Ever since Henry went to war, he has been indecisive as to whether or not he belongs there.  He is uncertain if he actually will have enough courage to fight during a battle. While in his trance on page fourteen, the youth isolates himself from the world around him and dreams about being home.  Not only did men in the civil war have this wish but, in the present day, soldiers dream of their normal lives back at home as well.

War is violent, chaotic, and barbaric.  In many cases, war is quite different than a soldier’s previous life.  For Henry, who started out as a farmer, he only had to deal with the cows kicking the milking stools.  Now the youth has to view the gory bodies of dead soldiers lying in twisted positions strewn on the ground.  Questioning his courage is quite understandable for a boy as young as him.  He still wants to live a happy somewhat peaceful life instead of dying in a war and to look like the bodies of those fallen soldiers.
In the concluding part of the passage, Henry speaks of his fellow soldiers dancing around the campfire, and assume they have no worries about anything. He feels as if they are not going through the same thing as him.  In reality, every human being in that situation goes through the same emotions to some degree. For example, in the confusion of the battle of Gettysburg, the confederate army turns and runs just as the youth does.  In the book Killer Angels, Michael Shaara, the author, describes the scene in the union colonel, Chamberlain’s, point of view: “he saw the whole Regiment rising and pouring over the wall and beginning to bound down through the dark bushes, over the dead and dying and wounded…”  Although Henry believes no one understands what he is feeling, courage and bravery are a very big topic in everybody’s mind.

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The Reality of War

“He had of course, dreamed of battles all his life, of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep of fire…Tales of great movements shook the land.  They might not be distinctly Homeric, but there seemed to be much glory in them.” (4-5). 

 

Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage is a coming of age story set amongst the barbaric violence of the Civil War era.  The novel’s main character is a naïve youth, Henry Fleming, who is eventually forced into disillusioned maturity when he finds himself in the midst of a savage war.  For much of Henry’s adolescence, he has dreamed of the splendor of war.  Using the epic tales of the Herculean Greek heroes as a model of war, he enlists into the army hoping to attain the glory and respect received by those godlike heroes of the past.  However, once Henry experiences for himself the reality of combat, he soon learns that war has a darker side that often overshadows the glory that is given only to some.  This specific passage portrays Henry’s naivety, as it demonstrates his obsession with “glory” and his failure to grasp the horror that war creates.

 

This passage is an example of the naivety that many possess in regards to the true nature of war.  This naivety is a universal theme depicted throughout war literature.  Numerous works portray the naïve protagonists who enlist in wars, and due to the violent reality of battle, will be forever changed.  For example, the novel Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo is the fictional account of Joe Bonham, a soldier in World War I, who is driven into war by false promises of honor and respect.   Bonham is later injured by a shell, and is robbed of all his senses and limbs.  Bonham is a prime example of one who is led into war under false pretenses of honor, and who must learn from personal experience the true brutal reality of war. Throughout history humans have heard the stories of the great heroes of the past, who, by fighting valiantly in battle, had become legendary; worshipped for their superhuman strength and bravery.  These stories, though they provide readers with captivating tales of victory and steadfast camaraderie, are only fabricated accounts of war, and are not accurate portrayals of the true nature of war.  Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage is one of the earliest works that portrays a soldier’s disillusionment with the reality of war. 

 

This passage is significant to the entire novel because it brings to light the maturity that Henry must ultimately possess in order to survive the war.  His naïve account of war is eventually distorted when he participates in his first battle.  The death he witnesses as well as the overall destruction caused by war contrast with the stories of the valiant Greek heroes whose golden valor and bravery surpass the dark brutality of death.  After the shock of witnessing a battle firsthand and losing a friend from home, Henry is personally thrust into the ruthless nature of war, thereby forever changing his pervious attitude towards battle.  The “glory” of war that Henry had so longed to see is thrust aside when Henry partakes in the gruesome first battle.

 

Men have always been drawn to war by the glory promised to a soldier who proves themselves in battle.  Many are so entirely motivated by this promise of glory that they fail to recognize the true reality of war.  It is not until one is on the battle field, facing the enemy that they will understand the full extent of war, and all that the horrific brutality entails.

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“He had performed his mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man.” (Crane 64)

Is a crime a crime if it is not perceived by anyone? Everyone has the ability to make a mistake, but sometimes they go unseen or unheard. If a boy steals a piece of candy from a supermarket and eats it, but the act goes unnoticed, as far as he knows, it may have never happened. In the passage, Henry is confronting himself for his escape from danger during the battle and his use of his head wound to explain his disappearance. He comes to the realization that no one knew his real motifs for fleeing, but him. The morals humans have installed from birth can reveal the truth in our actions especially when nobody else is there to help make that assumption.

As the quote says, “He had performed his mistakes in the dark.” No one knew that Henry ran due to a natural reaction to fear. The youth had told Wilson that he had received a head wound from an incoming bullet and it delayed his keeping up with the regiment. This lie brought him further away from having the manly status that he wanted to obtain. Not necessarily within the rest of the soldiers, but in his soul. To him, a red badge of courage was something to be proud of, a form of proof that would make him a respectable and honorable soldier. In reality, however, a bullet wound in that point in time could completely disable a soldier because amputation was sometimes the only method that could be used to terminate infection or disease from an injury. His masculinity had been tested during his confrontation with Wilson and he has failed miserably with his deceit.

According to the stereotype, men are meant to support their actions and beliefs with mostly facts. The youth had acted as a “youth” by believing that if none of his comrades had seen him run from combat he could still consider himself a man which is disrespectful to the other soldiers that may consider themselves weak for receiving injuries after facing combat head on. The comfort that he felt under the knowledge that his act of weakness had gone unknown, emasculated him to the point that he was almost as weak, in spirit, as a child.

In society, men are portrayed as beings that are able to make decisions without fearing the opinions of those surrounding them. Whether they’re peers, subordinates, or commanding officials, once a decision has been made it should be defended until proven wrong. At this point in the novel, Henry believed that he had not lost his “manfuless” because his escape had gone unnoticed. Though later in the book he regains some masculinity due to his actions on the field, it is hard to respect him for not admitting that he had expressed his strong fear of death to Wilson which would have been more masculine due to the fact that he returned to his unit to continue fighting. The actions people make define them, and if one acts in order to please those around him or her, it is hard to truly respect that individual.

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Boys Becoming Men

“With this conviction came a store of assurance. He felt a quiet manhood, nonassertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He knew that he would no more quail before his quides wherever they should point. He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death. He was a man.”(98)

 

In the novel The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane tells a story about a young boy in the union army during The War Between the States.  He uses the youth to help portray what it may be like for soldiers at war, showing us what war may really be like.  Crane displays to us the inner struggle that the youth faces throughout the novel. In the novel the youth faces many inner struggles that help to transform him into no longer being a youth but a man.  The youth struggles with his thoughts on courage and manhood as well as his place in nature.

 

            In the novel Stephen Crane tries to portray the average soldier.  His goal in trying to get in the head of a single soldier seemed much more effective then previous authors, who focused more on the battles as a whole.  His example shows us what soldiers during time of war may go through giving us a better idea of what really happens during war time in the heads of soldiers.  He does this through the eyes of a young union soldier, who is trying to find himself.  The youth displays all of the feelings, regrets and realizations that soldiers at war may feel allowing him to be a good example of a common soldier  For these reasons The Red Badge of Courage is considered a literature of war.

 

The quote explains the youths final realization on his inner struggles throughout the book, making the quote significant to the book.  In the novel the youth comes to war believing that all men die glorified in someway and that he needs to live up to that so he can prove himself a man.  The youth from the beginning of the book compares man and himself to nature trying to justify his actions.  He also struggles with natures disregard for human life.  He finds, however; after running from battle, having various encounters with nature, and then owning up to his mistakes, that his original thoughts were very wrong allowing him to come to a final realization at the end of the novel.

           

            The quote shows the youths final conclusion and how he becomes at peace with himself.  He has realizes that to be a man isn’t just about the glory and greatness one can achieve in war.  It’s more about realizing your mistakes and owning up to them and just doing what one is supposed to do.  The youth also comes to a realization about nature and mans role in nature. He finds that nature is just nature and doesn’t care about man.  He also realizes that death is a part of nature and while all men want to die with glory we will all die with or with out it, which is what many characters in various books struggle with such as Hamlet and his struggle with death.  Henry in the end makes peace with his inner struggles.

 

           

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Nature’s Indifference to War

 

“As he gazed around him the youth felt a flash of astonishment at the blue, pure sky and the sun gleamings on the trees and fields.  It was surprising that Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of so much devilment.” (p.29)

 

These lines clearly state a theme that is implied throughout the book.  The statement is that Nature does not encourage or discourage war. Rather, it is completely indifferent. 

            The author constantly belittles the actions of the soldiers by describing them in certain ways.  “There were some little fields girted and squeezed by a forest. Spread over the grass in among the tree trunks, he could see knots and waving lines of skirmishers who were running hither and thither firing at the landscape,” (p.18) and the general who “held a little carnival of joy on horseback,” (p.34) are just some examples of this technique.  These descriptions place the reader in a far away place, viewing the battles and soldiers from a larger perspective.  The descriptions are not romantic and exaggerated like one might find in books such as the Illiad.  The gods are not watching intently and the future of the world does not depend on a single soldier’s actions.  Instead, war and human actions in general are small and insignificant compared to the overarching forces of nature.

            The book seems to constantly place nature on a side for or against war.  But in the end, these are views written solely from the perspective of Henry, not the omniscient narrator.  The latter seems to mock the character as he tries to discover the true stance of nature on war.  The author writes, “He conceived nature to be a woman with a deep aversion to tragedy,” (p.35).  “He conceived” separates the narrator’s opinion from the character’s opinion that nature is anti-war.  Likewise, the author describes the cruel, violent version of nature from Henry’s perspective.  He writes, “It seemed that Nature could not be quite ready to kill him,”.  The “seems” is a similar method the author uses to distance himself from this opinion.  These distinctions do not appear in the above descriptions that show nature to be indifferent, hinting that the omniscient narrator, whose beliefs are therefore meant to be true, has this view.

These lines are significant because they clearly state the view of the book towards war.  The narrator belittles war in a comical tone.  This attitude is pessimistic, implying that war and any human action in general is insignificant on a global scale.  Nature is not for or against war.  Instead, it is so superior to humans that it does not care one way or the other, which is perhaps even more cruel than a pro-war nature.  It can also be a statement that war is wrong simply because it will not affect our destinies in the end.  Regardless of what the statement is, the author shows a clear and view of nature’s indifferent stance on war.

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“The daring spirit”: Emotions of War

“He himself felt the daring spirit of a savage, religion-mad. He was capable of profound sacrifices, a tremendous death. He had not time for dissections, but he knew that he thought of the bullets only as things that could prevent him from reaching the place of his endeavor. There were subtle flashings of joy within him that thus should be his mind.” (92-93)

This description of Henry Fleming’s emotions in the climax of battle is a revealing account of the evolution of the youth’s perception of war, as well as one of the most accurate portrayals of a soldier’s mindset in battle in all of literature, according to many. The passage takes place during a dangerous mission for Henry’s 304^th regiment as they are ordered to charge directly at the firing enemy. For Henry and his friend, such an attack is made even more unappealing after overhearing a general guess that most the regiment, whom he refers to as nothing more than “mule drivers” (75), will not return from such a mission. After successfully holding back the first surge of the day, in which Henry fought remarkably well, such a command must have been especially disheartening. However he again finds an incredible courage in the heat of battle, and fights without fear or hesitation.

When considering the difficulties the youth has faced throughout the novel, his accomplishments in this final battle are even more impressive. Though the entire plot takes place within two days, there is a sweeping transformation in Henry’s actions, which this passage reflects. On both days Henry and the regiment fight admirably to stop the enemy’s initial charge. However it is the way he fights on the second wave that demonstrates his development as a character. On the first day he is so overjoyed at his own performance which, in his mind, proves his courage that he is caught off guard by a second attack and flees in a panic. The next day, after fighting with such a ferocity on the first enemy advance that his comrades view him as some type of “war devil” (72), Henry seems to relish the opportunity to charge rather than grow nervous. The description of his emotions during the charge reflects the full extent of his new found eagerness for battle. He reaches new levels of courageousness that he had hoped for. His sudden motivation moves him beyond his constant fear of death and what it brings; so much so that he only looks at the assault of bullets as “things that could prevent him from reaching the place of his endeavor.” His desire to successfully complete the charge more than outweighs his deep apprehension over death that plagued him only yesterday. Such feelings and the heroic actions that accompany them, like his assumption of the role of flag bearer, bring the joyful awareness to Henry that he has turned a significant and long-awaited corner.

In a larger sense, the passage is but one of many within the novel that speak volumes about the actual emotions of a man in war. Most would agree that the feelings described here are unique to war itself and close to impossible to replicate in any other situation. The ideals of honor and sacrifice that are so commonly discussed in war literature are echoed here and throughout Stephen Crane’s novel; however for the youth they much less obvious. Henry never feels a desire for sacrifice because of a specific principle or ideal nor mentions any specific reason for fighting the enemy rather than because they are simply in a different uniform. Yet in the heat of the battle, according to Crane, Henry is overcome by such emotion that he is “capable of sacrifice” for no apparent reason other than the thrill and emotion of war itself. Many soldiers have expressed that it is not so much the specific principles for which a war is fought that motivate them to fight and so honorably lay their lives on the line, but something else entirely, such as the thirst for glory or pride, the special bond of camaraderie, or even the simple thrill of “seeing” or “destruction”, as expressed by Glenn Gray in The Warriors. For those of us who have never experienced such situations, this is confusing and often even disturbing, yet for many veterans of war, this type of motivation is all too common.

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Nature Doesn’t Exist

As he gazed around him the youth felt a flash of astonishment at the

blue, pure sky and the sun gleamings on the trees and fields. It was

surprising that Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process

in the midst of so much devilment. (Crane 29)

 

           

Nature doesn’t exist. This is not to say that trees, grass, plants, etc. don’t exist, but rather that the idea of nature as a one individual is false. Henry Fleming thinks otherwise. This character created by Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage is used to illustrate the common thoughts and fears of a soldier during war. Henry believes “Nature” as a universal being that everyone can relate too. In the selected passage we can identify that Henry believes Nature should represent the “devilment” of war that encompasses it. However, nature is realistic and continues on throughout time as planned without representing human involvement.

            The idea of Nature occurs throughout the novel. Henry continually has an internal conflict between fear and courage. Very indecisive, he fights in battle and flees for safety. Much like Hamlet, Henry can’t stick to his “gut” instinct, the opposite characteristic of a hero. Henry can’t fight against the “monster” (Crane 25) as much as Hamlet can’t kill King Claudius. Thus Henry tries to find an idol, something or someone he can follow. He turns to “Nature.” In this selected passage we first identify the interaction between the two. Henry has just finished fighting in his first battle and realizes that Nature has continued on without him, without sympathy. He has more of a belief that Nature will characterize the evilness of death and destruction as it did in Julius Caesar. In the play by Shakespeare, “a lioness hath whelped in the streets; and graves have yawn’d, and yielded up their dead… [and] drizzled blood upon the Capitol” (Shakespeare 2.2. 18-22). However, none of such occurs in The Red Badge of Courage, but rather Nature ignores the war and continues on “tranquilly.” It contrasts the romantic idea of Henry Fleming and the realistic novel.

            Crane illustrates realism through his texts. In The Open Boat he also uses an unexpected situation like the continuity of nature to support his point. The Oiler, Billy, the only character whose name is given, dies. In an ideal story, he would have survived because he was the hardest worker, however that is not life. Life is unfair. Through the selected passage we can infer that the romantic Henry Fleming is confused between Nature, a mythical being, and nature, the realistic world around him. Nature doesn’t exist.

           

 

           

 

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The Transformation of War

The youth had been taught that a man became another thing in a battle. He saw his salvation in such a change….He wished to return to camp…or else to go into a battle and discover that he had been a fool in his doubts, and was, in truth, a man of traditional courage.

(20)

            In Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, young Henry Fleming enlists to fight in the Civil War in a search for glory in battle that he has dreamed of his whole life. When he arrives among the fighting, however, he begins to feel some self doubt. He remembers that he has learned that battle changes people and hopes that he too will find the courage to fight. The Red Badge of Courage tells of Henry’s search for courage and glory and the transformation the war causes him to undergo.            

 

            When Henry learns that his regiment is going into battle, he begins to doubt that he has the courage to stand and fight. He says that “as far as war was concerned he knew nothing of himself’” (8).  He tries to assure himself that when the time comes, he will have the courage he needs. He uses this assurance to keep his spirits up and grows anxious to prove himself. Soon, he is thrust into battle and initially finds that he has the “traditional courage” he hoped for. The first fight he is involved in is small, but Henry proves his worth, and is full of pride for what he has done.

 

            Soon after this first fight, however, Henry is once again tested by battle. The second time his courage falters, and he flees. Here, he undergoes one of his many changes of heart. He fears for his life and simply runs away. While away from his regiment, he does what many men would do by trying to justify his actions. He compares what he did to the actions of a squirrel, tries to prove to himself that what he did was best for the army, and even convinces himself that he is better than the other deserters. But all the while he feels guilt for abandoning his comrades. Henry now has experienced both sides of his previous thoughts of battle. He has courageously fought and yet also fled over the course of one battle. Because of this, he still does not know who he is in war. He has transformed from a brave soldier to a cowardly deserter. Along the way he even receives a wound that serves to remind him of his cowardice. He is not truly satisfied with his actions, so he needs another chance to discover who he is. He knows he needs to redeem himself.

 

            Henry soon seeks and finds his regiment and is welcomed back with few questions of his absence. At this point in the book, the young soldier is given a unique opportunity few deserters get. He has a clean slate. His contrasting actions seem to have canceled out, and he has a second chance to prove to others, but mostly to himself, that he is courageous. Not long after rejoining his regiment, the moment he has dreamt of his entire life arrives. He fights this battle ferociously and, once again, proves his worth. This time around, however, Henry does more than show “traditional courage.” His actions on the battlefield show that he is not “traditional,” but exceptional. His lust for blood and passion for the fight get him recognition from his comrades and his officers. Henry finally knows who he is in war.

 

            With this final battle, Henry proves what he suspected from the start. Battle changed who he was. As Murray suggests in his essay “How Can War Ever Be Right?,” war not only changes Henry, but it changes him for the better. Henry underwent major changes throughout the novel. He moved from anxious to nervous, courageous to cowardly, and from cowardly back to courageous. But ultimately, his experiences change him from an innocent boy to a brave soldier. He satisfies the thirst for glory he dreamt of as a child. “He knew he was good….Nevertheless, the ghost of his flight…appeared to him and danced” (96-97) The fact that he realizes that he made an error marks Henry’s most important transformation of all. He no longer makes excuses or justifies his mistakes as he did earlier, but rather accepts his faults and feels ashamed for them as he should. The events of war erased his childish tendencies to replace them with more mature ones. He becomes more than just courageous. “He had been made aged” (75).

 

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