Red badge of courage 2
Red badge of courage 2Throughout every major time period and every piece of literature there has come to be a stance in the community of the church and how it was displayed to the public eye. The novel, The red badge of courage by Steven Crane, has this imagery of the church and its religion, which is evident in particular instances spread through the novel. Crane uses this imagery not only to entertain the reader with pungent detail, but also to enhance the readers involvement in the novel.
The first major use of this religious imagery appears at the end of the seventh chapter. "After running at length, he reached a place where the high, arching boughs made a chapel." "Near the threshold he stopped, horror-stricken at the sight." "He was being looked at by a dead man who was seated with his back against a column-like tree."(46) The stark irony of a rotten corpse in a backdrop such as the isolated chapel deep in the forest works well with its explicit detail and the realization it brings to Henry about just how real the war is.
This also brings about a great feeling of loneliness, which is one of the many stages that Henry goes through during the story. Henry feels isolated by his cowardly actions. Trying to justify his act of running, he compares himself to a squirrel that ran from an acorn that he had just thrown. By saying that it was just because of the natural inclination of self-preservation, Henry makes himself feel a little better, but there is still that element of unclarity that he faces. That element however will be a Godsend to Henry, because it will indirectly leads him to his next stage of his consciencenes, acceptance of the war.
Before he reaches that next stage of enlightenment, he spends a lot of time with other soldiers. Just by being around them, he sees how religious some soldiers are. When faced with the fact that they could die at any moment, the soldiers become very spiritual and faith filled. "Gaw'd." "I swear t' Gawd I will." (53-54) It is easy to see what war can do to the human nature that these soldiers once...
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