Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York, Penguin Putnam Inc. 1994
What is the Subject of the Story? The trials and tribulations of a young soldier, Henry Fleming, during the American Civil War.
Find and state (in the author's words) a "defining" passage,
one which best summarizes the direction of the story -its theme.
" These happenings had occupied an incredibly short time, yet the youth
felt that in them he had been made aged. New eyes were given to him."
Paraphrase this passage (in your own words):
War changes people. What we know about ourselves now, may not apply when the
adrenaline is pumping and the bullets are flying.
Paraphrase three subsidiary, supporting ideas, images or symbols using
complete sentences.
Henry and his fellow soldiers were not in complete control of their actions
during the heat of battle. They fought at the risk of death not because of
their love for their country but for adrenaline, while those who deserted
did so not because of their lack of pride for their country, but for the fear
of the moment.
Make a list of and name the characters you have found in the essay, supply
a characterizing quotation and tell why you think the author used the character.
Character's Name. Quote the text!Why used?
Henry Fleming - "He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his
life - of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep
and fire. In visions he had seen himself in many struggles. He had imagined
peoples secure in the shadow of his eagle-eyed prowess. But awake he had regarded
battles as crimson blotches on the pages of the past. He had put them as things
of the bygone with his thought-images of heavy crowns and high castles. There
was a portion of the world's history which he had regarded as the time of
wars, but it, he thought, had been long gone over the horizon and had disappeared
forever." pg6
"These incidents made the youth ponder. It was revealed to him that he
had been a barbarian, a beast. He had fought like a pagan who defends his
religion. Regarding it, he saw that it was fine, wild, and, in some ways,
easy. He had been a tremendous figure, no doubt. By this struggle he had overcome
obstacles which he had admitted to be mountains. They had fallen like paper
peaks, and he was now what he called a hero. And he had not been aware of
the process. He had slept, and, awakening, found himself a knight." pg
51
Henry Fleming (aka the Youth) is the protagonist and central focus of The
Red Badge of Courage.
Jim Conklin - "I've thought it might get too hot for Jim Conklin
in some of them scrimmages, and if a whole lot of boys started and run, why,
I s'pose I'd start and run....But if everybody was a-standing and a-fighting,
why, I'd stand and fight." pg17
"The tall soldier held out his gory hand. There was a curious red and
blck combination of new blood and old blood upon it "Where yeh been,
Henry?" he asked. He continued in a monotonous voice, "I thought
mebbe yeh got keeled over, There's been thunder t'pay t'day. I was worryin'
about it a good deal."
Even though Jim soon dies in the beginning, he represents an important moral
contrast to Henry in the early part of the novel.
Wilson - "The youth reflected. He had been used to regarding his
comrade as a blatant child with an audacity grown from his inexperience, thoughtless,
headstrong, jealous, and filled with tinsel courage. A swaggering babe accustomed
to strut in his own dooryard The youth wondered where had been born these
new eyes; when his comrade had made the great discovery that there were many
men who would refuse to be subjected by him. Apparently, the other had now
climbed a peak of wisdom from which he could perceive himself as a very wee
thing. And the youth saw that ever after it would be easier to live in his
friend's neighborhood." Chp14, pg 128
Crane used Wilson to show that people can change during war. Wilson starts out as loud and obnoxious, but later proves to be an even more sympathetic version of Henry.
Henry's mother - "But his mother had discouraged him. She had affected to look with some contempt upon the quality of his war ardor and patriotism. She could calmly seat herself and with no apparent difficulty give him many hundreds of reasons why he was of vastly more importance on the farm than on the field of battle." pg7
" Don't forgit about the socks and the shirts, child: and I've put a cup of blackberry jam with yer bundle, because I know yeh like it above all things. Good-by, Henry. Watch out, and be a good boy." pg 9
She allows Crane to introduce several difficult themes with which Henry must
grapple with, including the insignificance of his life in the grand scheme
of the world.
Summarize the plot, noting the climax or crisis and resolution of the piece:
The book starts out with a new regiment for the Union army waiting to go into
battle. Many rumors fly around about when they are going to start fighting.
However, a few days later, they start marching and are lead into battle. This
is the first battle for the regiment so a few soldiers, including Henry Fleming,
desert the regiment. His desertion marks the climax of the book. After Henry
deserts, he finds Jim and walks with him for a while before he dies. Henry
then wanders about in the forests and gets in a fight with another lost soldier
of the Union army who hits him across the head with the butt of his rifle
causing Henry to bleed. By night, Henry receives help and finds his way back
to his own regiment. No one suspects Henry of deserting and they treat him
as a wounded soldier. During the night, Henry is cared for by a friend named
Wilson. By morning, Henry is well enough and continues to fight with his regiment
in several battles that day. Henry and Wilson always stayed in the front and
encouraged the other soldiers to fight harder showing much courage. They was
complimented by the Colonel, but Henry still felt guilt about deserting his
regiment the day before.
Explain your view on the issue raised in the story. Do you agree, disagree
or partially agree with the author? Give at lease three reasons you believe
as
you do.
Crane raises many issues including courage, manhood, and human life in general. I agree with most of what Crane says. His views on war are very similar to mine. In war, the adrenaline takes over and you become a different person. This is true in any intense situation. I also believe that many people believe that they are the most important people in war, and that the world revolves around them. Henry's realization that the natural world spins on regardless of the manner in which men live and die is perhaps the most difficult lesson that Henry learns as a soldier.
THEME: WAGES OF WAR
How does it express the theme?
Books Read:
1. Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper.
2. The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane.
Three Threads:
Some things in war never change. Through the two books I have read, both depict
blood, gore, and chaos set in a the peaceful wilderness. Some differences
occur in the style of fighting. Of course in the Red Badge of Courage there
is less hand to hand combat since there are no Indians, and fighting is set
more on open fields and less in deep forest.
The affect of war on the combatant in the Cooper's book, is not as openly
displayed as in the Red Badge. Henry often (and I mean often) reflects on
his situation, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes throughout his ordeals.
AC 11-12-01
