Describe The Elements Of Death And War In Cranes The Red Badge Of Courage Essay, Research Paper

Describe the elements of war and death in Stephen Crane s The Red

Badge of Courage. This book is divided into two parts. In the first part the main

characters, Henry Flemings. illusions disappear when confronted by the reality of

battle(WAH 642). During the first battle he sees vague figures before him, but

they are driven away. In the next battle he is so frightened that he runs away

becoming one of the first heroes in literature to actually desert his fellow soldiers

in the field.

While Henry is separated from his fellow soldiers, he

wanders through the forest. There he experiences the kind of

illusions that predominate in all of the writings of Crane (WAH

642). First he tells himself that nature does not blame him for

running. Next he finds himself in a part of the woods that he

believes is religious. The insects are praying and the forest

takes the appearance of a chapel. Henry is comfortable with this

until he finds a dead soldier in the heart of the chapel .

Henry sees an ant carrying a bundle across the face of the dead

soldier. That view is beautiful in the sense of conveying great

emotion through minute detail(WAH 643). As he moves back henry

sees a line of injured soldiers including his friend Jim

Conklin,who is badly wounded and another friend called the

tattered man . Trying to make up for deserting his friends, Henry

tries to help Jim Conklin who is dying.After Conklin dies, the

tattered man probes deeply into Henry s conscience by repeatedly

asking where ya hit (Bowers 132). Henry deserts the tattered

man.

When Henry stops another soldier he asks him the novels most

important question which is why The soldier hits henry on the

head for starting trouble. Ironically this wound becomes Henry s

Red Badge of Courage . Henry is then lead back to his regiment

by a cheery soldier who helps wandering soldiers. This leads

Henry into the second half of the book. Henry s wanderings are

over. Not until the end of the book does he ask questions. Most

of the repudiations are complete: heroes do not always act like

heroes; no one understands the purpose of life or death; nature

may be malevolent, probably no different, but is certainly not

the benevolent pantheist realm of the transcentalists, and God,

is simply nowhere to be found(Weatherford 32).

In the second part of the novel Henry beco0mes a war

devil , the hero that he wanted to be originally when another

battle is over, all Henry has accomplished is negated. Many

critics found the last chapter confused and muttled, Henry s

feelings range from remorse to the sin which is not responsible

to pride as a great hero. Finally he feels the world was a world

for him and he looks forward to a soft and eternal peace

(bowers 173). The end of the book is like that of many of Cranes

conclusions completely ironic. No one lives eternally

peacefully the world is not a world for Henry. As John Berryman

says, Cranes sole illusion was the heroic one, and not even that

escaped his irony

During the course of his experiences Henry learns at first

hand of the indifference of the universe, the chaos of the world,

the illusory nature of religion and patriotism and heroism, but

he learns these lessons in the heat of the moment, when

recognition is virtually forced on him(reports of war 146). Henry

becomes a representative of mankind.

The individual memory becomes a metaphor for collective memory,

history. Everythings a lie. Not even heroism can last.