How Is Henry Mature In The Red Badge Of Courage

Sometimes you’re not always who you want to be. Henry wasn’t who he wanted to be during the beginning of The Red Badge of Courage. He was very self-absorbed and selfish, but he thought he was going to go through with fighting alongside the other sergeants. I believe by the end of the novel Henry had grown into adulthood. He showed signs of maturity, he wasn’t fighting to save himself, but to save others, and he started to except his own flaws and mistakes. Henry has really grown up. Henry starts showing signs of maturity when he starts forgetting about himself. At the beginning Henry showed his immaturity level as clear. He ran away from battle and told everyone that he had gotten shot when in reality he was only being a coward. Close to the end of the novel Henry starts to understand what being courageous is all about and it is then when he realizes he needs to stop and think, he needs to start fighting for everyone else rather than running away like a coward to only save himself. Henry becomes more selfless and has a better idea about what courage takes. He becomes a leader instead of a far back follower, he steps up his game and shows his adult side. …show more content…
Henry at the beginning of The Red Badge of Courage was only trying to save himself and survive alone. He thought running away from the dying soldier was a crime, but once the thought occurred to him that every man has to be courageous to save everyone around him he, again, became a leader. Henry was aware that all men face and feel the same emotions and they all have equal parts of cowardice and courage. All of this taken in by Henry at once made him want to fight for everyone but himself, he got out there and started to battle. This time he didn’t even think about running, he was