After reading Red Badge of Courage, I noticed that Henry had interesting motives for fighting in the Civil War. He wanted to fight as a way to feel a sense of respect and glory. He thought that his participation would allow him to prove himself and appear important. His motives for fighting the war represented a young and immature individual. He wanted to come back as a hero, so he made alterations to the stories he told; many were exaggerated and some complete lies. He wanted people to see him as a brave soldier, who was active in the war. Stephen Crane pointed out how battle is dangerous and taxing on a soldier; I do not think that he saw enough reasons for soldiers to fight. Henry was an example of a Union soldier that was fighting for the wrong reasons. He surprised me when he wished for the “red badge of courage” to prove his participation and that he sacrificed himself for the war; this is a childish and foolish request. He felt a sense of guilt and inferiority to these soldiers because they risked their lives for the union. He felt like a coward and regretted running away.
7 thoughts on “Red Badge of Courage and Motives”
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It is true that Henry was pursuing the badge in the whole book, so technically he was fighting for himself rather than any other kind of believes. I think that even though Crane did not really participate the war, he did a great job describing the mental activities of ordinary solders, who felt scared at the beginning and later redeemed themselves in the war.
I agree with you on the motivations for Henry’s reason to fight. He wants to fight so that others see him as a hero. Now I ask you, do you feel that other figures in history have lied and reconstructed stories to make them seem like heroes?
In a way this is a coming of age novel. While Henry is young throughout the entire story, he matures in his behavior and mentality. He was a coward and thought that the result of being in battle was glory and heroic recognition. He had no prior knowledge of what war was really like, and that opened the door for him to flee from battle. But he would overcome this and act courageously by taking up responsibility of holding a flag during another battle.
I think many figures in history have reconstructed stories to make themselves appear to be better. As we saw in Henry’s case, reconstructing the story of his experience in the first battle improved the way in which his peers would view him. This worked out for Henry which can only go to show that reconstructing stories may work out sometimes.
I agree that Henry wanted to join the war to feel respect and glory but I think he also wanted to be part of something bigger than himself. It is clear that he wanted to feel important by being a great soldier but initially he gets that feeling from being surrounded by so many comrades. His end goal was to be a hero and he eventually achieved that.
The beginning of the novel certainly aimed to depict Henry as the average soldier fighting for glory and masculinity. He wanted to come home with battle experience and war stories that would impress his peers. He did not pay much attention to the other soldiers or his place with them; he just wanted to be accepted.
I do agree that as the story progressed, Crane adjusted the feeling toward being more focused on his relationship with other soldiers and how they had to work together to be successful, not a chase for personal glory. Once he became closer with his peers, he was able to achieve his glory and tell his ridiculous stories.