Stephen Crane's The Red Badge Of Courage

Perhaps considered one of the greatest war novels of all time, Stephen Crane’s most well-known novel, The Red Badge of Courage, encompasses an exemplary resemblance of courage and fortitude. This novel, written first written in 1895 in third person omniscient point of view, is a psychological coming-of-age novel, centralized around the main character, Henry Fleming, and his experience as a soldier in the bloodshed of the American Civil War (Woodress 1). To begin the novel, Henry is characterized as a timid, humble, reluctant, young boy from the tranquil countryside of upstate New York; and most importantly, he is terror-stricken at the thought of going to war (Napierkowski 1). However, over the course of the novel, Henry’s progressive maturity and evolution into a confident, self-assured soldier, expresses the thematic notion of courage at its finest. Numerous instances over the course of the novel, The Red Badge of Courage, accurately display the gradual growth and maturity transformation of the main character, Henry Fleming. Stephen Crane provides several examples in his writing to resemble …show more content…
The novel quintessentially resembles a coming-of-age novel, expressed by the main character, Henry Fleming, and his evolvement into manhood. Henry’s advancement is expressed by way of events in the book such as fighting in the war and forming prominent relationships with other soldiers. By enlisting in the war, Henry learns the true meaning of courage and determination, while advancing into manhood in the process (Woodress 1). From the young, timid, apprehensive farm boy from upstate New York to the mature soldier he has long yearned to become, Henry Fleming underwent a major progression leading to maturity, shown through many instances over the course of this remarkable