The Red Badge of Courage: Chapters 1-3
List and explain five tangible things and five intangible things the soldiers from The Red Badge of Courage carry.
From the novel The Red Badge of Courage, five tangible things the soldiers carry with them include “necessary clothing,” such as their uniforms, boots and such, “blankets, haversacks, canteens, and arms and ammunition.” (Crane 20) All of these items are necessary for personal well-being and performance within combat during a war. Intangible items the soldiers carry with them include their personal memories. “He had seen a good deal of flurry and hast in her movement as she changed her attitude. He often though of it.” The soldier remembering having seen a girl watching him depart off to war. Another intangible item the soldiers carry with them is their love toward loved ones. On page seven despite the attitude of the narrator, while his mother is lecturing him and giving him a speech it is out of love. The soldiers also carry with them pride. Again, referring to the narrator’s mother’s speech, “he had, of course, been impatient under the ordeal of this speech.”(7) The narrator feels a sense of pride because he is a soldier now, that he is too “grown-up” to be accepting of affection from his mother. Another intangible item the soldiers carry with them is their feeling of longing; whether longing to be home or longing to actually fight within a battle. “They were marched from place to place with apparent aimlessness.” (25) The soldiers had joined the military to fight, not be moved from place to place. Lastly the soldiers carry with them bravery. They are in fact in a war, and bravery is certainly something that is required.
Answer this question: “What do you carry?” List and explain what you hump around life, both tangible and intangible.
As far as tangible items I hump around day-to-day are my wallet, which holds the essential drivers license. I also feel naked if I don’t carry a water bottle with me every where, I think I’m addicted to water, because it is all I ever drink and I drink a lot of it. I also carry with me the ever-convenient cell phone. Lately I have been remembering to carry my SPF 30 chapstick, because my lips get sun-burnt extremely easily (and that hurts quite badly). I also tend to carry around at least one pencil. As far as the intangible items I hump around my life with are my dreams and hopes for the future. I carry with me the memories of the past, both the good and the bad. I also carry with me frustrations or feelings of annoyance I’m not able to release; whether it is schoolwork or if I’m in a pessimistic mood; which frustrates me because I usually attempt to always stay optimistic/positive.
