Why Did Henry Flee From the Second Battle?
The main character in ‘The Red Badge of Courage’ is Henry, a young boy who has left home to become a soldier in the Union army. He is certain that he will return home a hero. He wants his “red badge of courage”. His visions of war are like those that he had when he and his friends played together; in the mock battles, no one had to face the horrors of the reality of war. In the story Henry fought the first battle bravely, but, Henry did not have the maturity or strength of character that needed as he faced the battle a second time to deal with the tragedy created by the conflict.
As Henry and his regiment began the first battle, Henry, like the men around him, loads his rifle, aims and shoots, loads …show more content…
As Henry is running from the battle, he sees he division general sitting on his horse observing the chaos. Henry “ felt that he would like to thrash the general, or at least approach and tell him in plain words exactly what he thought him to be. It was criminal to stay calmly in one spot and make no effort to stay destruction”. In his mind, Henry even questions the intelligence of his leadership, ”and he hated the lieutenant, who had no appreciation of fine minds. He was a mere brute.” “It was useless to expect appreciation of his profound and fine sense from such men as the lieutenant.” Henry seemed to think himself superior to his leadership intellectually.
Henry lacked confidence in himself and the maturity need to admit it to stay and fight the second battle. He had not become integrated into the larger army so that he could be confident of his place in the unit, he was still that individual that needed special attention. Henry’s initial goal of becoming a hero was the aspiration of a child. He didn’t understand that he would not be the one to decide when he would achieve that distinction; others would do that for
The main character in ‘The Red Badge of Courage’ is Henry, a young boy who has left home to become a soldier in the Union army. He is certain that he will return home a hero. He wants his “red badge of courage”. His visions of war are like those that he had when he and his friends played together; in the mock battles, no one had to face the horrors of the reality of war. In the story Henry fought the first battle bravely, but, Henry did not have the maturity or strength of character that needed as he faced the battle a second time to deal with the tragedy created by the conflict.
As Henry and his regiment began the first battle, Henry, like the men around him, loads his rifle, aims and shoots, loads …show more content…
As Henry is running from the battle, he sees he division general sitting on his horse observing the chaos. Henry “ felt that he would like to thrash the general, or at least approach and tell him in plain words exactly what he thought him to be. It was criminal to stay calmly in one spot and make no effort to stay destruction”. In his mind, Henry even questions the intelligence of his leadership, ”and he hated the lieutenant, who had no appreciation of fine minds. He was a mere brute.” “It was useless to expect appreciation of his profound and fine sense from such men as the lieutenant.” Henry seemed to think himself superior to his leadership intellectually.
Henry lacked confidence in himself and the maturity need to admit it to stay and fight the second battle. He had not become integrated into the larger army so that he could be confident of his place in the unit, he was still that individual that needed special attention. Henry’s initial goal of becoming a hero was the aspiration of a child. He didn’t understand that he would not be the one to decide when he would achieve that distinction; others would do that for