The Red Badge Of Courage

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The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, follows Henry Fleming, a young Union Army Private through his experiences during the Civil War. It focuses on the changes he goes through from first being excited about fighting, then his feelings of fear, and finally coming into his own and becoming a courageous soldier. Henry Fleming is a 15 year old boy who dreams of joining the army because he thinks it will be exciting and will bring him honor and glory. Once he joins, he is stationed in Virginia and it is nothing like he expected. His biggest fear is being attacked by the enemy and the thought of deserting occurs to him more then once. Eventually he becomes friends with two soldiers, a tall man named Jim Conklin, and a loud man named Wilson. When they hear rumors that the Confederates are attacking, Henry asks Jim and Wilson how they’ll do. Jim isn’t worried and believes they “won’t be the best, but certainly not the worst of the regiments.” Wilson says he would never run under any circumstances. When Henry gets caught in the middle of the charging soldiers, he realizes there is no where to run even if he wanted to. Then Henry passes a dead soldier, which really affects him. Henry’s regiment successfully fends off the first wave of Confederates. But when the second wave comes right after that, many soldiers panic and flee, including Henry. When he meets up with some soldiers and finds out that the Union won the battle, he regrets running. Later he meets some wounded soldiers and tags along with them. A “tattered soldier” constantly asks Henry where he was wounded. Henry is ashamed and wishes he had a wound, or “red badge of courage.” Eventually Henry runs into his old friend Jim Conklin who was badly hurt, and eventually dies in front of Henry. As Henry continues to wander, he runs into a regiment going into battle in a grove. A rifle accidentally hits him

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