Examples Of Fred Collins A Mystery Of Heroism

When someone thinks of a “hero”, many different attributes may come to mind. For example, some might think of a parent or a mentor, someone they look up to. While others think of someone who risked their life for their country. Both of these are examples of true heros. Someone who is a true hero is selfless, sharp, caring, and ready for whatever may happen to them. In the story, “A Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane, Fred Collins, the main character, decides to go straight into the battlefield so he can get a drink of water. Collins makes the choice not because he is desperate for a drink, but because his fellow soldiers think that he does not have the guts to do it. In order to prove himself to his comrades, Collins risks his life and walks …show more content…
One example of this was his decision to go get water for the other men, even though no one was in desperate need of it. Towards the beginning of the story, some of the other men were talking about how Collins’ trip was pointless and obviously not needed. One of the men even said that no one was “dying of thirst” (Crane 460). The soldiers were in the middle of fighting and no one was really worried about water at that moment. Seeing that no one needed water that critically, “His captain waved the bucket away,” and said “Give it to the men!” (Crane 462). The captain did not want the water, so he said to offer it to the men, who ended up not even fighting over it. Collins ended up not even drinking the water he risked his life to go get. Collins did not display any characteristic of heroism with his lack of …show more content…
Someone who is a true hero would not have done something that was uncalled for, and would have let their pride get hurt. One of the real reasons that Collins went across the battlefield was to get away from the other soldiers mocking him. The men did not think that Collins truly had the guts or the smarts to cross the battlefield in the middle of the battle to get water that no one needed, so they made fun of him. Before Collins left, his comrades made fun of him about his decision to go, wondering if he was really going to do it. Fred Collins, feeling a lot of peer pressure by his fellow soldiers, decided to make a bad decision and go out and cross the battlefield (Crane 460). In order to prove himself, Collins chose to go get the water. When his officer reluctantly let Collins go, he went to go get the water, he left his fellow soldiers stunned. Crane showed that Collins went to go get the water, he did it because of the men taunting him by saying “Collins was shaking his fists in the faces of some laughing comrades. ‘Dern yeh! I ain’t afraid t’ go. If yeh say much, I will go!’” (Crane 460). This shows how upset Collins was about the men making fun of him. A real hero would not let the taunting bother him, but Collins let them get to him and gave into the peer pressure. Collins is not a hero because of his lack of self discipline and putting his pride over his own