This seizing of the flag is Henry’s ultimate rite of passage. He discards his terrified and cautious childhood and becomes an experienced, courageous individual. In conclusion, Henry’s rite of passage is, generally, the Civil War. It teaches him the hardships of life and draws out the courage deep down within his soul. Henry, at first, is timid and anxious about his potential and what would the others think about him.
There are but three choices for a soldier: to die in battle, to win as an anonymous hero together with thousands of his friends or to lose as a forgotten life. He has endured enough of a mournful and private life so never break a soldier’s heart. If there hadn’t been the selfless and courageous people who chose not to be draft dodgers, there wouldn’t be the United States of America, in which we live with a happy family, say hello to the heroic trash collector every Monday morning in a peaceful neighborhood and go to school studying American Literature. Yes, America still has heroes. Our duty is to be aware of all the heroes around us and show them appreciation.
He subsequently wins the game for his army drawing the ire of Bonzo for his disobedience to orders. Punishing Ender for taking the initiative further adds to the contrast between the two. Ender is traded to another army shortly after. In his new army, ender trains new recruits to fight in zero gravity, and takes self-defense classes to better protect him. Ender is constantly seeking self-improvement and strives to improve the skills of others.
The Red Badge of Courage is often perceived by readers as a story of a young inexperienced and fearful boy, Henry Fleming, who eventually transforms into a courageous war hero. There are, however, fragments of the novel which suggest that the change in Henry’s mind is minimal, including the fact that the book covers only quite a short period of time. From some perspectives, developing courage in a form of losing self-preservation is the only change Henry undergoes, and otherwise remains the same person as in the beginning of the novel. The first part of the book, as W.B.Dillingham points out, deals with “the anatomy of cowardice”. Henry Fleming enlists in the army as a young and immature soldier dreaming about becoming a veteran and gaining
In the novel Three Day Road, Elijah Weesageechak and his best friend Xavier Bird, two Cree aboriginals, fight as a sniper team in WW1. Elijah becomes corrupted by the war which leads to his ultimate demise. The war transforms Elijah into an emotionless killing machine. His transformation was due to the loss of his identity, his quest for fame through war, and the use of morphine to escape reality. In the beginning, when Elijah joined the army he quickly wanted to fit in with the other soldiers.
Beowulf’s character is certainly one to do this and thus is the reason he may be dubbed a hero. Beowulf makes a significant impact upon his followers, in particular the soldiers he had chosen to be with him. Wiglaf makes a emotional speech among his fellow soldiers as Beowulf has gone off to fight without their aide. In this speech Wiglaf declares, “ –Now the day has come when this lord we serve needs sound men to give them their support…As God is my witness, I would rather my body were robed in the same burning blaze as my gold-giver’s body than go home bearing arms.”(lines 2646-2653) This kind of comment makes one question how much of an impact they can truly have on their peers. To have such awe inspiring powers so as to gain the trust and respect of your men to the extent that they would indeed take greater pleasure in their deaths than that of their leaders is truly incredible.
This event occurs fairly early in the novel (Chapter 6) and is followed by an exploration of his guilt and shame about this desertion. The actual climax occurs in Chapter 12, when Henry receives a wound, his "red badge of courage." Ironically, this wound is inflicted by a fellow soldier who is frightened and fleeing from battle. When Henry tries to stop him to gain some information about what is going on in the battle, the soldier hits the Youth over the head with his rifle. From this point forward, however, things begin to sort out for Henry.
As General Sherman observed, “War is hell.” The sniper is a veteran of war: his eyes are those of a man “who is used to looking at death” (O’ Flaherty 1). He has witnessed much destruction. The Republican sniper was highly experienced because he applied many maneuvers such as shooting from a great distance with a revolver and other things he learned over the years. Another way the republican sniper proved that he’s experienced was by quickly dressing his injury after being shot; he was able to dress his own wound and persevere. One can also notice his knowledge related to war when he realized that his rifle wouldn’t pierce the armored car from a great distance, proving his knowledge of rifles and armored vehicles.
Upon waking the next day, Henry notes the change in his friend, he was no longer a loud young soldier. There was now about him a fine reliance. He showed a quiet belief in his purpose and his abilities. These two characters changed Henry in a sense that he gained the bravado from Jim and the defensiveness of Wilson. Henry had joined the military to earn a name amongst other men.
In the book Fleming is often with other soldiers but he is isolated till he is able to become a real soldier. The youth would have liked to have discovered another who suspected himself. A sympathetic comparison of mental notes would have been a joy to him (14). This is stated when Fleming is pondering about battle for the first time. He is the only soldier that seems to be frightened of battle and he seeks companions that have the same beliefs.