The Red Badge of Courage :: essays research papers

The Red tag of CourageThe main character in The Red Badge Of Courage is a young boy named Henry Fleming who experiences war for the first time during the Civil War. He is a Union soldier in the 304th unsanded York. Throughout the book, Henry goes through a complete change of character as the war goes on. The three main stages Fleming goes through are before he actually engages in combat, his second combat experience and the second mean solar day of battle.The entire reason Henry Fleming joined the army was to become a hero. He was completely blind to the Unions cause as a whole and was looking more for personal achievement and nearly-being. This is depicted in the paraphrase his province was to look out, as far as he could, for his personal comfort. Henrys plans of heroism and bravery are cut short when his control does not enter actual combat, but rather continues to hear news and rumors of upcoming battle. During this time, Henry has a lot of time on his hands and does near ly serious thinking. He begins to feel uncomfortable and wishes he were back home with his mother on their farm. Also, he starts to feel insecure about how he leave react in battle. He fears that he will run away in terror when the fighting actually begins. He recalled his visions of broken-bladed glory, but in the follow of the impending tumult he suspected them to be impossible pictures is a quote that shows Henrys insecurity about battle.Although filled with doubt, Fleming actually fights well during his first combat experience. It is during his second battle that his fear overcomes him. When the two soldiers on either side of him run, he is fraught with fear. This causes the youth to throw down his grinder and run away from the fighting. As he is running, he rationalizes his decision by telling himself that the regiment was about to wiped out, when in fact the line held and victory was achieved. It is without delay apparent that Henry is also extremely afraid of being teased by his fellow soldiers. During this period, Henry goes through a major change. The next day he is boastful about his acts of bravery and ignores his acts of cowardice.On this second day of battle, Henry also enters his third and final stage. When his regiment engages the enemy, Henry begins to act on instinct instead of rationalizing everything.