While he is red badge of courage essay as a boy who always gets lost in between his thoughts about the imagery and reality of the war, people of today are no different at all. Themes Motifs Symbols. Important Quotes Explained. The internal fears that haunt Henry are mostly created by himself. To die, as the soldier did, is one choice; to run from battle, as Henry does, is another.
Stephen Crane
What kind of moral universe does Stephen Crane create in The Red Badge of Courage? Is his a traditional values system, or does he challenge the idea that right and wrong exist in the first place? In contrast with the many morally ambiguous wars in American history, the Civil War is often spoken of as a conflict with clear, if complex, ethical issues. Yet The Red Badge of Courage argues that, for the soldiers actually fighting the war, traditional ideas about honor and courage, right and wrong, are a silly and irrelevant indulgence. In his reserved and opaque way, Crane criticizes a conventional moral code according to which soldiers are always heroes, real men fight bravely and die willingly for their country, and the horrors of battle turn boys into veterans.
Indeed, by dramatizing the experience of one typical young man, Crane makes the dark argument that traditional morality is a dangerous delusion. Crane points to the gap that yawns between glorified ideas about war and the actual experience of fighting a war, red badge of courage essay. At the beginning of the novel, Henry wonders how his experiences will measure up to those of Greek war heroes. When he starts fighting, however, he encounters red badge of courage essay the lofty, meaningful battles of Greek mythology, but pointless, inexplicable marching, cranky peers, embarrassing gaffes, and perplexing fights.
Crane suggests that while presidents, generals, and the American public have the luxury of imagining war as a moral combat between right and wrong, the soldiers red badge of courage essay the ground know it to be a confusing, mostly meaningless series of dangers and annoyances. It is by being pointedly vague about the individual soldiers and the two opposing sides that Crane emphasizes the essential amorality of war. The soldiers are not heroes, but a mass of indistinguishable men; the armies are not red badge of courage essay of opposing moral positions, but vague groups set against each other at random. Crane shows Henry to be a coward and a braggart, but then he shows us that we would be fools to condemn him.
But is he wrong to run from danger? Is he weak because he steels himself for battle in the only way he can, by falsely convincing himself that he is courageous? Crane wants us to take these questions seriously. He wants us to see that while conventional morality prizes selflessness and bravery, and while we might enjoy reading about a selfless, brave character, those qualities are precisely the ones that lead to death. And the decaying corpse Henry encounters in the forest suggests that death is meaningless. To die, as the soldier did, is one choice; to run from battle, as Henry does, is another. While some critics argue that Henry does undergo a change, others insist that he ends the novel exactly as he began it: as a self-important, deluded, cowardly boy.
War is not a crucible in which cowards become heroes, he suggests, but a mess that men survive however they can. Crane suggests that men are never motivated by love of their country or other lofty ideals. But get them red badge of courage essay fired up by fear of embarrassment, or hatred of their superior officers, or daydreams about impressing women back home, and they might triumph in battle. In the end, amorality, not morality, leads to victory. Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. No Fear Literature Translations Literature Study Guides Glossary of Literary Terms How to Write Literary Analysis.
Biography Biology Chemistry Computer Science Drama Economics Film Health History Math Philosophy Physics Poetry Psychology Short Stories Sociology US Government and Politics. SparkTeach Teacher's Red badge of courage essay. Character List Henry Fleming Jim Conklin Wilson, red badge of courage essay. Themes Motifs Symbols. Important Quotes Explained. Suggestions for Further Reading Stephen Crane and The Red Badge of Courage Background. Please wait while we process your payment. Unlock your FREE SparkNotes Plus Trial!
Unlock your FREE Trial! Sign up and get instant access to save the page as your favorite, red badge of courage essay. Previous section Mini Essays Next section Suggested Essay Topics. Popular pages: The Red Badge of Courage. Take a Study Break.
education argumentative essay
But is he wrong to run from danger? Is he weak because he steels himself for battle in the only way he can, by falsely convincing himself that he is courageous? Crane wants us to take these questions seriously. He wants us to see that while conventional morality prizes selflessness and bravery, and while we might enjoy reading about a selfless, brave character, those qualities are precisely the ones that lead to death. And the decaying corpse Henry encounters in the forest suggests that death is meaningless. To die, as the soldier did, is one choice; to run from battle, as Henry does, is another. While some critics argue that Henry does undergo a change, others insist that he ends the novel exactly as he began it: as a self-important, deluded, cowardly boy.
War is not a crucible in which cowards become heroes, he suggests, but a mess that men survive however they can. Crane suggests that men are never motivated by love of their country or other lofty ideals. But get them sufficiently fired up by fear of embarrassment, or hatred of their superior officers, or daydreams about impressing women back home, and they might triumph in battle. In the end, amorality, not morality, leads to victory. Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
No Fear Literature Translations Literature Study Guides Glossary of Literary Terms How to Write Literary Analysis. He felt that his assumption was clearly rectified- he was a coward. Henry Fleming seemed to become the virtuoso of separation, individualism, and isolation. The internal fears that haunt Henry are mostly created by himself. He is apprehensive of the reaction he will have towards any stimulus thrown out at him, therefore creating a fear that separates and isolates him from not only the rest of his regiment and his family, but himself as well. He is afraid to face reality and see what really makes up Henry Fleming.
Throughout the majority of this narrative Henry is torn between the boy he is and the man he wants to be. Regardless of the isolation from his family, the isolation from his regiment, and the isolation from himself, Henry matures over the course of the narrative. He becomes unified with his fellow comrades and his regiment, puts the dispute with his mother aside, and faces his fears and doubts. He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death. Hence, this is I believe a good argument that he reached maturation at that very moment. My take in this factor is that the author, Stephen Crane, emphasizes how vain and shallow Henry was in the beginning of the plot by referring him as The Youth.
Calling Henry a man on the last passage makes it more arguable that he is realizing his superficial self and maturing already. Additionally, when one is already realizing and pondering on things, this is definitely a certain time that one learns from his actions and deeds. Henry Flemming is not different from any of us today. While he is portrayed as a boy who always gets lost in between his thoughts about the imagery and reality of the war, people of today are no different at all. We all face different kinds of war on our own and it is in no doubt that we all get lost in between the realities and fantasies of our own ordeals.
But once we come across a real dilemma somewhere in the middle, this is where the process of maturity comes in. In my own definition of empowerment, I believe it is the capability of making and executing a decision and a choice — and Henry made a choice. Whether it is a good or a bad one, we have our own understanding of bad and good. Nevertheless, making a choice is a great sign of maturity.
No comments:
Post a Comment