Literary+Analysis

=Literary Analysis = == Themes Symbolism Character Analysis Quotes Style Bibliography || =Themes=
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 * Courage:** There is a constant pressure placed on Henry and the rest of the soldiers to be courageous. It's an image that they feel they are obliged to fufill. Henry started off in fear once the rumors of an approaching battle became more and more real. "Previously he had never felt ablidged to wrestle too seriously with this question.... It had suddenly appeared to him that perhaps in a battle he might run." (p 9) But he was afraid to reveal that side of him to the other soldiers. When he asked the other soldiers if they doubted themselves, or if they thought they might flee, the soldiers declared that they would never desert in the heat of battle. The soldiers might have had similar feelings to Henry, but they felt the obligation to reflect a courageous warrior on the outside. Henry always worried that he might flee during combat, and was afraid that he wouldn't be able to develop his courage. (AC,JS,MR)


 * Manhood, and the Transition from Youth to Maturity:** Henry's father is never mentioned in the novel. The absence of a father in his life causes him to want to fulfill the role of a "man." But his perception of a "man" is very stereotypical. The main reason Henry enlisted to fight was to prove his manhood to himself and other. He wanted his town to look up to him, praise him, and adore him for being a strong and victorious war hero. In the war, he clearly starts off as a "boy," seeking war to hurl him into "manhood." His idea of becoming a true "man" is to fight, be brave, and be admired. (AC + JS)


 * Self-preservation:** Henry started off in fear of fleeing in combat. But when he first fled, he tried to justify it. He reasoned that he //had// to flee in order to preserve his life. Basically, self-preservation is a way for him to justify his actions to himself and to others, because he's not yet "courageous" enough to stay and fight like a "man" -AC


 * Disregard for human life:** In Henry's mind, the war he was fighting was "justified." Yet the deaths in previous wars, especially in the Homeric times, were cruel and unjust. In ancient Greek history, Henry believed that they were cruel and that they were killing innocent people. But in Henry's situation, he thought of himself as less of a savage, making the deaths he would cause more rational. "He had long despaired of witnessing a Greeklike struggle. Such would be no more, he had said. Men were better, or more timid." Henry thought that times had changed, and that conflicts had become more civil without losing much of the glory of wars. -AC, MR


 * The Glorification of War:** Henry goes into the war with the idea that it is a glorious thing. "He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life- of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep and fire." (p3) "He had read of marches, sieges, conflicts, and he had longed to see it all. His busy mind had drawn for him large pictures extravagant in color, lurid with breathless deeds." (p4) These thoughts spurred him to enlist because he wanted the honor that people spoke of. He learned that most of what happens in a war is far from glorious. After "months of monotonous life in a camp" with nothing to do "but sit still and try to keep warm... he had grown to regard himself merely as part of a vast blue demonstration." (p8) He realized that men of his ranking would not be recognized as individuals, but as a group where no one would care if one of them was lost. -(MR)

=Symbolism=

Although Crane uses a somewhat detached journalistic style of writing with few literary details, he does include a few symbols.

Foremost is the title of the book itself. What is the red badge of courage? The reader is first introduced to this symbol after he dodges away from the tattered soldier who was excitedly chattering to him about the battle from which Henry had just run away. "At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage" (66). Thus, to Henry it represents an emblem of honor, joy, and pride, the solution to his cowardice.

Another one, the dead soldier, is Crane's first real depiction of the grotesqueness of war. It appears to Henry in the midst of his escape from the battle scene:

"At length he reached a place... near the threshold he stopped, horror-stricken at the sight of a thing. He was being looked at by a dead man who was seated with his back against a columnlike tree. The corpse was dressed in a uniform that once had been blue, but was now faded to a melancholy shade of green. The eyes, staring at the youth, had changed to the dull hue to be seen on the side of a dead fish. The mouth was open. Its red had changed to an appalling yellow. Over the gray skin of the face ran little ants. One was trundling some sort of a bundle along the upper lip." (57)

"Just when Henry thought that he had preserved his life at the price of honor & glory, he comes across the dead soldier, who slaps him in the face with the hard hand of reality of war. The reality is that the bodily wounds, the red badge of courage for which Henry so desperately yearns, ultimately leave him dead and alone, nothing but a decaying corpse, full of holes gnawed away by maggots and ants. Furthermore, Henry is symbolically running away from death itself, from the "sight of the black ants swarming greedily upon the gray face and venturing horribly near to the eyes" (58). =Character Analysis=

__**Henry Fleming**__- "the Youth" Protagonist In the begining of the book Henry is enthraled with the idea of war. He believes that dying in war is the greatest honor. When he gets to camp he begins to question his courage and tries to find comfort in others. He flees from the first battle he is in and relizes his true self. Henry really developed as a character throughout the book, and in the end, he ends up helping lead his battalion in into victory. His courage comes out in the end of the book, and he no longer desired to be in war. (JZ) Also Henry shows that he doesn't fully comprehend the meaning of war and how it is not all about glory it is more about survival. Also he comes to terms with the brutality of war later into the book where as at the start he was unwilling to even fight. I don't believe he is the best character to write the story about since he is very boring but since the story was written about him we have to deal with his mental battle over his thoughts and fears. (C.L.) Click Here to get an in-depth analysis of Henry Flemming written by JS

__**Jim Conklin**__- "the tall one" Jim is one of the main characters in __The Red of Courage__ until his death. In the beginning he contrasts Henry. He seems willing to fight in war and is not scared to do so as long as that is what everyone else is doing. He is a character who seems to do whatever he believes will please the masses the most. Jim is a very quiet character who often does not complain about his problems even in the event of his death. Jim seemed happy to die alone or at least contented with everything he had done in his life. To me Jim is completely necessary to the story. He brings a certain calming demeanor to the story as well as a good contrasting character for Wilson. To me Jim was the best character he was the most normal as well as the simplest. He showed satisfaction in everything that he did and content ness with what he did. He was happy with himself which made him one of the few good characters in the book. (C.L.)

__**Wilson**__- "the loud one" Wilson is a loud opinionated soldier who is very naive. Wilson was completely opposite Henry. He was very confident in himself, and believed himself fearless. He says that he would fight no matter the circumstances. He is certain that he will die in battle and gives Henry a letter to deliver to his family. Wilson has a turning point in the book and later asks for the letter back. Wilson becomes very selfless, and relizes the insignificance of himself to the whole big picture of war. (JZ) In the beginning of the book, Wilson is a loud soldier who is also naïve. Whenever Henry asks him if he would run in a battle, he replies with certainty that he will stay and fight. “’Run?’ said the loud one; ‘run? –of course not!’ he laughed” (21). However, Wilson finds Henry before a battle and gives him an envelope to deliver to Wilson’s parents. This was because he was certain that he would die in the upcoming battle. This demonstrates that he also has fears of battle and death, just like Henry. He is a just a young man trying to prove his bravery. Later in the story, Henry encounters Wilson after suffering a blow to the head. Wilson takes Henry under his wing and helps him heal. Henry even noticed the changes in Wilson: “He was no more a loud young soldier. There was now about him a fine reliance. He showed a quiet belief in his purpose and his abilities” (102). His transformation from a loud overconfident youth to an almost wise veteran shows the horrors of war and how they can drastically change someone’s personality. When Wilson asks for his envelope back, he feels foolish because he remembers his own ignorance and foolishness from earlier. He ends the book a seasoned soldier who survives the many skirmishes with Henry. (A.L.) __**The Tattered Soldier**__ Henry meets him along with a group of wounded soldiers. He sees that he has "two wounds, one in the head, bound with a blood-soaked rag, and the other in the arm." (p 63) Henry is ashamed of himself when the tattered soldier asks him "Where yeh hit, ol' boy?" (p 64), and becomes jealous of the wounded soldiers. "He concieved persons with torn bodies to be particularly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage." (p 66) Henry viewed those with wounds as having more courage than anyone, because they had proof of having been through a battle and not having run away from possible injury or death. -(MR)

**A REAL-LIFE RENDITION OF THE CHARACTERS** media type="youtube" key="QjHmBN6Kxt4" height="344" width="425"

=Quotes=

After his first battle, Henry was a bit cocky. He envied the soldiers who were wounded.
explanation:** this quote shows how Henry changed throughout the book. It shows that he no longer desires a red badge of courage. He has developed into a man of honor and courage. (JZ)
 * "With the conviction came a store of assurance. He felt a quiet manhood, non-asserive but of sturdy and strong blood. He know that he would no more quail before his quides wherever they should point. He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death. He was a man." (p. 166)

[[image:Untitled-1.jpg width="207" height="296" align="right" caption="An example of pointillism (click to enlarge)" link="Pointillism"]]
= = =Style The //Red Badge of Courage// uses two key literary styles: pointillism and realism. Realism is a truthful look at the world, which in many cases can not be done without the use of pointillism, a style of dramatic imagery. (CK)=

Pointillism
Many call Crane's book "the most boring book [they]'ve read" or "a 166 page long poem". Either way, it is true that the book has very vivid imagery. This is an example of //pointilism.// This is when the author deems it necessary to give every possible detail of the scene in order to paint the whole picture. Compare this to pointillism in painting (right). The result of this is a very poetic story, but it also loses appeal to many readers. //(more...)// (CK)

Realism
Before the turn of the century, there was a literary movement to show the world in all its beauty and in all its disgrace. These authors were Realists who used intense imagery to give an honest view of the world. In this way, the author makes you make your own conclusions about the story instead of spelling it out on the page. The //Red Badge of Courage// is famous for its shocking realism and true look on war, instead of a romanticized idea of fearless soldiers fight to victory with their close comrades.

We can see evidence of Crane's use of realism in his **detached style**. Crane intentionally uses as few names as possible throughout the book. By doing this, Crane manages to make us have a less personal relationship with the characters. This is also evident in his somewhat unusual narrative point-of-view. Crane writes in the third person but reads the thoughts of only Henry to the audience as if in the first person. Other authors writing in the third person might say everyone's thoughts or no one's thoughts, but Crane combines the two. By doing so, he makes us feel secluded like Henry. Although Henry talks to others in his company, he really keeps his more intimate thoughts (such as wanting to desert his company) to himself. In this way we see the loneliness and therefore depressing thoughts that war brings.

Crane also has a certain **journalistic style** to his writing. This is not only essential to Crane's novel, but all novels in the realism genre. Crane was a journalist early in his career and could have arguably been influenced by the style of journalism. The mark of a true journalist is their ability to give an unbiased and blunt view of a story. By doing so, the journalist shows the real story without letting emotional opinions jeopardize the legitimacy of the story. This is the same for //The Red Badge of Courage//. By keeping a journalistic style in his writing, Crane was able to show aspects of the wretchedness of war without publishing his opinions about war. Instead, he makes the reader make conclusions, which is essentially more effective.

In my opinion, the best quote in the book is the reoccurring quote, "Men were better, or more timid. Secular and religious education had effaced the throat-grappling instinct, or else firm finance held in cheek the passions" (p. 8). This quote returns in varied forms. The reason I like this quote is because it adds a certain perspective to the story that I think is essential to true appreciation of the novel. We may often think of war today as justified and not in the least bit barbaric, but the author in 1894 believed the same idea in his time. We'd like to think that war is more and more moral and important than the last, but as we see in Crane's writing about the Civil War, no matter how justified the war may be, what goes on in war is inhumane and barbaric. In this way, Crane makes the novel about more than the Civil war, but **about war in general**.

Crane's use of realism was not unique to //The Red Badge of Courage//, though it was rare for its time. Crane's use of real language in his novels, as opposed to the romanticized English of the bourgeois, resulted in difficulty for him trying to get his novels published. However, with //The Red Badge of Courage//, his realism was praised and began influencing many other authors. (CK)

=Irony=

__Glorified Images of War__ __vs. **Reality of War-**__ War is portreyed as glorious "Tales of great movements shook the land. They might not be distinctly Homeric, but there seemed to be much glory in them." (p 4), but as a soldier, Henry contemplates his insignificance in the world and comes to see himself as part of a "vast blue demonstration." -(MR)

__**Civilized/ Justified Wars** vs. **Brutality of War**__- Henry keeps bringing up Greek heroes and how times have changed and humans are more civilized and we fight justifiable wars, but in reality war and killing people is still just as brutal. The author points out that all generations, like Henry, think that times have changed but they have not. -(MR)

=Bibliography=

the Bibliography has been moved to the Links of Research page. Be sure to add your sources to that page!