The Character Of Henry Fleming In The Red Badge Of Courage
Involved hundreds of thousands of men, the Civil War, obliviously, is not a table game or something interesting. Stephen Crane, in the Red Badge of Courage, portrays experience of a young boy who joins army during the Civil War. The main character, Henry Fleming, who begins with romantic visions about battles, is later plagued with doubts and fears. At the beginning, Henry feels good about either the war or himself. The romantic books he read make him review himself like a Greek-like hero, and he regards the war as glorious due to the propaganda on newspapers and the village’s opinion. As stated, “[the] newspapers, the gossip of the village, his own picturings, [have] arouse him to an uncheckable degree” (Crane 193). Although his mother discourages
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Life in camp has nothing to do with honor, glory, or even some sort of fun. They do almost nothing except “[sitting] still and [trying] to keep warm” or keeping being “drilled and drilled and reviewed” back and forth (Crane 196). Luckily, this kind of life doesn’t last for years. As Henry wished, soon, the regiment begins to move out. However, unlike his life-long dream, the reality of the war forced Henry to recognize what kind of matter he is undergoing now. Forgetting his own aspirations earlier, he commence to regret his naïve decision and contradict himself. The young boy blames everything on the government; he convinces himself with self-deceiving excuses that he “had never wished to come to the war”, “had not enlisted of his free will”, and “had been dragged by the merciless government” (211). Along the march, the body of a dead soldier which he encounters sets him about doubting his romantic thoughts and his ability to handle a real battle. The ashen body seems to try to let me know how poor and hard a soldier’s life actually is, and the vague eyes of the body look into Henry’s as if they are questioning his capability of even surviving under this kind of arduous situations. Fear crept upon his spirit, and “the ardor which [he] had acquired… rapidly faded to nothing” (212). Everything is now a trap in his mind;
Life in camp has nothing to do with honor, glory, or even some sort of fun. They do almost nothing except “[sitting] still and [trying] to keep warm” or keeping being “drilled and drilled and reviewed” back and forth (Crane 196). Luckily, this kind of life doesn’t last for years. As Henry wished, soon, the regiment begins to move out. However, unlike his life-long dream, the reality of the war forced Henry to recognize what kind of matter he is undergoing now. Forgetting his own aspirations earlier, he commence to regret his naïve decision and contradict himself. The young boy blames everything on the government; he convinces himself with self-deceiving excuses that he “had never wished to come to the war”, “had not enlisted of his free will”, and “had been dragged by the merciless government” (211). Along the march, the body of a dead soldier which he encounters sets him about doubting his romantic thoughts and his ability to handle a real battle. The ashen body seems to try to let me know how poor and hard a soldier’s life actually is, and the vague eyes of the body look into Henry’s as if they are questioning his capability of even surviving under this kind of arduous situations. Fear crept upon his spirit, and “the ardor which [he] had acquired… rapidly faded to nothing” (212). Everything is now a trap in his mind;