Changes In Character Term paper
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Changes in Character Has it ever appeared that a person has no control over the events that change their life? Has their brain ever thought things it was not supposed to think and their body done things it was not intended to do? In Stephen Crane s The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming is in this situation. In the first half of the novel Henry acts as though he has no control over his life; however, halfway through the story he gets a second chance, and his view on life changes allowing him to develop control over his actions. In the beginning of The Red Badge of Courage Henry Fleming does not make his own choices. This can be seen within the first two chapters. Henry dreams of the thrills of battle, enlists, and soon after realizes he did not like war and never wanted to join (Shulman The Red 79). There could be many reasons for his enlisting, however, he probably enlisted for reasons along the lines of teen rebellion. Henry, a young man, still lived with his parents, and thus still followed their rules. This was his chance to show his parents, more specifically his mother, that he was a man and could make his own decisions (The Heroic 1). Once Henry leaves for battle he regrets his decision even more. His regiment marches everyday and he, along with his companions, complain about the marching and wonder why they are not doing anything productive, such as fighting (Crane 34). However, unlike his companions Henry was distressed. He wondered if he will flee when the battle begins, and he asks his fellow soldiers how they felt and whether or not they had envisioned themselves running once the battle began (Crane 36). They all replied that they had not and this torments Henry even more. He tells himself that he will not run yet he cannot shake the idea of running. They wait for their chance to fight and finally the moment comes. His regiment goes to the battlefield, and the question still lingered in Henry s head. Suddenly a wave of Confederate soldiers rushed toward them, and Henry sees his comrades fall in battle. Some of the men fled yet he stayed, and they repelled the enemy. This was their first taste of battle, and they were proud of their victory. Henry was also proud, not only of their victory, but also of overcoming his fears. Then a second wave came, larger than the first, and at the sight of this he and many of his companions fled. Henry did not desire to leave the battlefield, he wanted to stay and fight and remain victorious with his fellow man, however something drove or rather forced him away (Shulman Community 66). This unusual series of events gives Henry a second chance and a new outlook on life. Once Henry abandons his comrades, he wanders around and feels guilty about his actions. He also begins to wish that his comrades would lose the battle. This is because if they lost, he would not be considered a coward, but rather an intelligent warrior. It would have seemed that he fled already knowing what was going to happen (Stephen 1). Henry continued to wander through the forest for several hours before finally going back into the open. He saw some troops walking at the bottom of the hill, and he went to find out what the outcome of the battle had been. As he got closer, he noticed that these men were wounded, and from the number of them they had probably been severely beaten on the battlefield. Henry went down the hill with high spirits, a feeling he had not had since he was home (The Heroic 2). He asked one of the men what the outcome of the battle was and the man proudly explained that the North had been victorious. This angered Henry and he began to wander through the field of wounded men. He found one of his friends who had obtained a real wound, and they walked together for a while. His friend slowly died before his eyes, and Henry felt guiltier than ever before (Shulman Community 66). This showed him the true horror of war, and now Henry felt that he must return to his regiment and tell what had happened to their friend (Shulman The Red 79). He did not know where he was going, and soon he ran into another dying soldier. Henry knew the injured man would slow him down, so he left the dying man alone in the middle of the woods. He wandered around looking for his regiment in order to tell of what had happened to their friend. He found a group of soldiers running and grabbed the last man. He asked him if he knew where he could find his regiment. The man claimed he did not know and when Henry refused to let go of his arm he...
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