Red Badge of Courage-Maturing

Every person goes through a natural change in his or her lifetime. This change is the maturation process from childhood to adulthood. This process for some is easier than others. Steven Crane creates a portrayal of the maturation process through his character Henry Fleming in The Red Badge of Courage. For young Henry, the maturation process is a long and hard struggle that takes place through three skirmishes at the battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War.

In the beginning of the story, it can be easily seen how Henry is still a young immature child. His motives for wanting to sign up for the war effort were shallow and selfish. He did not join the war effort to defend his country but rather to bring glory to himself. To put it rather simply, the youth wanted to be a Hero. Also to add to that, Henry had no real clue of what war was about.

"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

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They had fallen like paper peaks, and he was now what he called a hero.

Next, Henry finally comes to terms with the real object of war, death. He did not stand stolidly baring his furry belly to the missile, and die with an upward glance at the sympathetic heavens. After his desertion, he feels ashamed of himself for running and attempts to rationalize his reasons for leaving. When he goes to find out what’s going on, he scares a soldier by grabbing his arm. In touching "the great death," Henry comes to understand the importance of life and his own mortality. In another occasion, he witnesses the death of his childhood friend and comrade, Jim Conklin. He had performed his mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man”(89). Ironically, Henry finally receives his own “red badge of courage” from the comrade. He had been a tremendous figure, no doubt. By this struggle he had overcome obstacles which he had admitted to be mountains. He felt a quiet manhood, nonassertive but sturdy and strong of blood.

“His self-pride was now entirely restored. At this point, Henry is still struggling with himself.

Approximate Word count = 1154
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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