As one grows older and has new experiences, change and wisdom are often garnished. In the novel Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, Henry is a young man who lives with his mother during the time of the civil war. Henry enters the war enthusiastic and confident that his typical romantic view of battle will hold true. This view is soon shattered as Henry gets his first glimpses of battle, and he sees what true fear is, and the courage that is needed to overcome it. War accelerates mental growth and maturity, as is shown by Henry's triumph over his anxiety. In the novel courage is shown to be a mental state that one must achieve rather than an instinct.
             As Henry's story begins, he is full of self-confidence and glorious visions of a war. He assumes that he will fight, win and live to tell long exaggerated stories about it. Henry does not consider, however, either the cause he is fighting for or the possibility of the existence of cowardice. As Henry comes to terms with the reality of the battles he will soon be fighting, for the first time, it strikes him that perhaps "in a battle he might run. He was forced to admit that as far as war is concerned he knows nothing" (10). This is the beginning of Henry's maturation because without understanding his foible, he cannot mature.
             When Henry experiences battle for the first time all goes well, and he shows no signs of fear of running. As the rebels return to attack, he loses his nerve and flees. This
             begins Henry's much-needed reassessment of himself, which he accomplishes in the woods. He comes upon a squirrel and compares his running away from danger to that of a squirrel running away from a pinecone. To Henry, this is justification for what he did. Henry believes that if an animal instinctively runs away so should he. As he continues walking he comes to a "chapel," symbolically a place of deep meditative contemplation and true u
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