Red badge of courage henry fle
Red badge of courage-henry fleGrowing Up
Throughout the novel The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming is in a constant struggle between his illusions of war and reality. When Henry first decides to enlist their is a perception of war that he has in his mind; he later finds out that war is not as glorious and courageous as his mind had perceived. As the novel progresses Henry comes to realize that his idealized notions of war and death, for his country, were all illusions he was creating for himself.
Being a young man from a small house in New York, all that Henry Fleming new about war is what he imagined it to be in his head. He perceived war to be a great struggle between two opposing forces fighting for their own beliefs(Ch.1 ). He believed that he would make a difference in battle and would have a direct impact on the outcome of battle. When Henry arrives for his duty in the military he begins to second guess himself. Henry begins to think that he will not fight but he will run from battle like a coward. In Chapter Three Henry is tested in battle for the first time and stays and fights
like a man should. This is the first time that Henry sees a realistic viewpoint of war. Henry begins to become angered for his government sending him on this deathmarch, then he realizes that he had enlisted voluntarily. Henry still had an idealistic thought of war and told himself that “a man became another thing in battle.”(Ch. 3) This fight proved to Henry that in battle he will stay and fight like a man. But, Henry sees soldiers retreating
and thinks to himself that maybe he has not seen the actual enemy yet. He believes that maybe the first fight was just a prelude to the one that lies ahead, and is once again scared that he will run from battle when his regiment needs him the most.
Henry is very pleased with himself that he had stood up to battle like a man and had not run like a coward. But, when Henry starts to see troops running away he becomes panicked and begins to think they are leaving him to fight the battle alone. This causes Henry to start running disillusioned and without direction. At this point Henry still has feels that war is a great heroic epic and is in great shame that he had run from battle so cowardly. Henry begins to rationalize his decision by throwing a pine cone at a squirrel in the forest; the squirrel runs away. Henry views this as an instinct for preservation, “all living things try to preserve themselves from harm by running away from danger.” Soon after Henry finds a group of men marching and this is when he feels the most shame...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.