Courage in The Red Badge of Courage
...elieves that he will basically win the war himself and return a valiant hero before he enlists. These thoughts are very romantic. However when he is actually in war, courage is expressed in a realistic way. Henry now believes that survival is more important than courage. Henry, or “the youth” as Crane sometimes refers to him has an unrealistic and romantic view of war when he enlists. For example, “(He) dreamed of battles all his life-of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep and fire.” (Page 3) This quote shows how little he actually knows about war and courage. He thinks that he will fight courageously and be a major factor in the Union’s success then return home with awards for his achievements. But as he will soon find out, courage is far from the stories of knights and castles. Henry finds out more about courage when he cracks in the second battle. In the first battle he fought well but in a time of pressure in the second he slipped and ran to the back of the battle. As he ran back he thought, “It was some wondrous breed. Or else they didn’t comprehend- the fools.” (Page 41) This shows that he was so ashamed of running and not being a brave soldier that he wanted to be that he tried to convince himself that the men fighting were idiots and that he was right for running. Henry learns here that real courage isn’t easy to achieve and not as easy as it sounds. In the last battle Henry finally shows that he is in fact courageous and for the right reasons. Henry picks the flag up out of the dead flag- bearer’s hands and charges; encouraging the men. “He was waving his free arm in furious ...