Courage and Heroism within The Red Badge of Courage
Both novels attack the idea of traditional heroism. “On the Rainy River” and chapters 5-8 of The Red Badge of Courage explore the idea of the traditional hero. How do our main characters stack up against the traditional norms? What is your definition of courage and heroism? What other experiences or literary works have worked to build this definition for you? How do O’Brien and Crane achieve their goals? What literary spin are they putting on the ball of words to get us to swing? Be sure to use quotes from the text and commentary to support your ideas.
From The Red Badge of Courage the protagonist, Henry, could easily be depicted as a traditional hero. In my opinion courage and heroism can be defined as actions that show strength in times of fear or disappointment, while making a stand for what you believe in, and learn from such incidents to become “a better man.” Examples of works of literature that have helped me develop that opinion of courage and heroism are The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. Our hero in The Red Badge of Courage exemplifies many of those traits. Henry, or “the youth” as he is referred to in the novel, persistently fought through the battle that he and the other soldiers thought was unmatched, on top of being under prepared and physically exhausted. “After the fever had left his veins, the youth though that at last he was going to suffocate. He became aware of the foul atmosphere in which he had been struggling. He was grimy and dripping like a laborer in a foundry.”(Crane 35-36). Henry in the time of the battle felt that suffocating to death would have felt better then the agony of anticipation of the war felt like. “The youth awakened slowly. He came gradually back to a position from which he could regard himself. For moments. . . So it was all over at last!” (Crane 37). After fighting a battle that Henry was so nervous and terrified about, he stuck through it and managed to survive to see his brigade hold the opposition off. Stephen Crane manages to make Henry appear to be a hero, because his raw emotions are convincingly real. Henry isn’t some buff, brave soldier, he is a typical and average young man risking his life to serve his country. He is petrified of his life ending, which is believable because I don’t believe there is one reader who would say they would be willing to die. The thing which keeps his persisting is his knowledge that it is for his country, and that it will make his mother proud; despite his mother’s rather negative opinion of him fighting. I believe Crane portrays Henry as an average teenage young man to be the hero, because of the believability and realness of the scenario. Especially today with the war in Iraq, there are many young men and women risking their lives in simple acts of bravery, which I think that is what makes a hero.
