Potential themes from The Red Badge of Courage
1. the nature and meaning of courage
2. initiation into manhood
3. the meaninglessness of war
4. the nature of fear
5. the loss of individuality
6. the indifference of nature
Post two quotations from the novel that relate to one of the above themes. Include the page number of the quotation, a summary of the quotation, and explain how the quotations relate to the theme you have chosen to illustrate. Also include an analysis of any rhetorical devices the author has used in the quotation.
Kailey Drake: Initiation Into Manhood
ReplyDelete“On the way to Washington his spirit had soared. The regiment was fed and caressed at station after station until the youth had believed that he must be a hero. There was a lavish expenditure of bread and cold meats, coffee, and pickles and cheese. As he basked in the smiles of the girls and was patted and complimented by the old men, he had felt growing within him the strength to do mighty deeds of arms” (Chapter 1, Page 483).
Henry thinks by joining the army and wearing the uniform he will become a hero and a man. Later while waiting for a fight to come he starts looking at the other men.
“Meanwhile he continually tried to measure himself by himself by his comrades.” (Chapter 2, Page 487).
Henry defines masculinity by what he sees in his comrades. When he sees that he differs from them, his own manhood is called into question. He asks himself if he will run from battle or not. Henry thinks if he does run he will not become a man or even a soldier.
"These incidents made the youth ponder. It was revealed to him that he had been a barbarian, a beast. He had fought like a pagan who defends his religion. Regarding it, he saw that it was fine, wild, and, in some ways, easy. He had been a tremendous figure, no doubt. By this struggle he had overcome obstacles which he had admitted to be mountains. They had fallen like paper peaks, and he was now what he called a hero. And he had not been aware of the process. He had slept, and, awakening, found himself a knight." (Chapter 17, page 550)
Towards the end of the novel Henry realizes that he has became a man because he step up and was leading his regiment with the flag. Henry became a new man after what he experienced. He ran and left his regiment in the dust but realized they had a lot of pride and so the next battle they went into he started to lead his comrades and take charge.
These quotes relate to initiation into manhood because the quotes explain scene were he thought that he was a man but realized he was not. Then the last quote show us that he had became a man at the end of the novel because he was not afriad to go into battle and he lead the charge.
I think in these qoutes Craine trys to make Henry confused about what it takes to be a man. I think this because at the beginning Henry thinks just joining the army is becoming a man. In the middle Henry realizes what it takes to be a man and at the end he accomplishes this. I also think that Craine shows that Henry's confindence is growing and he is becoming stronger.
Levi J.
ReplyDeleteMy theme I chose was the indifference of nature.
The first quote I have is "This advance upon nature was too calm."(page 495) Henry says this as they are charging into the first battle. Henry says this because with all the adrenaline he is feeling he expects everything around him including nature to be at the pace his mind is going, when in reality, nature doesn't change for humanity.
The second quote I had was "he was pursued by a sight of black ants..."(page 513) This quote is about when he is in the chapel and everything was so serene and beautiful in nature even though there was a battle going on and there was a dead body within the chapel. The ants prove that humans are only part of nature and they use the human to the best of their abilities.
Both of these quotes rely on imagery to show that nature is indifferent and the personification of different aspects of nature. The first quote personifies Nature, and the second personifies the ants as trying to take over everything, and he was chased away by them.
Alex K.
ReplyDeleteThe loss of individuality
p. 485 "After a time the tall soldier slid dexterously through the hole. The loud private followed, they were wrangling."
This quote shows loss of individuality because instead of being introduced by their names the two soldiers are introduced with adjectives. This shows that society views them as soldiers instead of individual people.
p. 483 "As he basked in the smiles of the girls and was patted and complemented...deeds of arms." In this quote the soldiers are on their way to Washington D.C. Henry is feeling loved and heroic because he is being treated so well. This shows loss of individuality because all theh soldiers are getting treated the same and not receiving treatment based on what they had done in war.
Austin G.
ReplyDeleteThe Nature of Fear
Pg. 484 “A little panic-fear grew in his mind. As his imagination went forward to fight he saw hideous possibilities.” This quote shows that Henry fears what could come out of war. This shows that Henry fears two things. He fears death from battle and he fears the possibility that he might run away from battle. This relates to the theme in the way that fear is brought out by the aspects of what is going on in nature. In this insistence they are in a battle and death is apart of nature and Henry fears death so he is afraid that he will die.
Pg. 576 “He had been to teach the great death and found after all it was but the great death that made him a man.” This quote shows that one needs to face there fears in order to achieve greatness. In this case the nature of fear is death and it keeps coming back to Henry. In order to achieve manhood Henry much face his “Fear” of death and he is finally able to face it through warfare.
Miranda G.
ReplyDeleteThe theme I chose was the loss of individuality.
"He had grown to regard himself merely as a part of a vast blue demonstration. His province was to look out, as far as he could, for his personal comfort. For recreation he could twiddle his thumbs and speculate on the thoughts which must agitate the minds of the generals. Also, he was drilled and drilled and reviewed, and drilled and drilled and reviewed" (pg.105;Ch.1). Henry has lost his sense of personal identity, and this has made him feel isolated. He might be part of a large machine, but he feels as if he is a nameless cog. He feels no comfort from these men. Henry is taught to function as a unit not as an individual.
"He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was a part—a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country—was in a crisis. He was welded into a common personality which was dominated by a single desire. For some moments he could not flee, no more than a little finger can commit a revolution from a hand."(pg.462;Ch.5) For this quote the loss of identity may be considered a "good" thing. Henry describes the feeling he had towards the other soldiers after the first battle. His identity rather than being Henry is being part of the regiment, he no longer is just one person, he is part of a whole. Henry feels a connection towards his fellow soldiers because they are all working towards a common goal, with no one person more important than another.
P.S. My pages are off because I left my book at school, so I used my kindle with the book on it as the guide :).
The nature and the meaning of courage.
ReplyDeletePage 562. “The impetus of enthusiasm was theirs again. They gazed about them with looks of uplifted pride, feeling new trust in the grim, always confident weapons in their hands. And they were men.” The men had begun to lose what they needed to fight, and started to believe that the end would soon be near. When they saw Henry lift up their flag it encourage the soldiers to keep going and not give up. After witnessing this they began to fight better.
At this point Henry was already hurt, and the man who was already carrying the flag and been shot. For Henry to pick up the flag though with no weapon it proved to everyone that he was someone who had a lot of courage. All of the soldiers had already put themselves in harms way by enlisting and fighting in the war. But Henry went a step further and showed that he was not the young boy that he was when he first enlisted.
Page 570. “A knowledge of its faded and jaded condition made the charge appear like a paroxysm, a display of strength that comes before a final feebleness.” “..he thought of the bullets only as things that could prevent him from reaching the place of his endeavor.” At this point the men were faced with a risky decision; if they were to retreat backward many of the men would die, but if they charged forward there is also that chance that they would be shot down by their enemy. The men decided that they need to charge and at least try to over power the enemy. None of them took the time to give it a second thought; all of them charged towards the enemy.
At this point the men realize that this may be it for them, and that there is a strong possibility that they won’t make it out alive. They don’t think about the what if’s that may or may not happen though instead they decided to push forward. This shows that they do have courage and are not afraid of the possibility of death anymore. They decide that the best thing for them to do is risk their individual lives.
Tyler C.
ReplyDeleteinitiation into manhood
"his emotions made him feel strange in the presence of men who talked excitedly of a prospective of battle as a drama they were about to witness, with nothing but eagerness and curiosity apparent in their faces. It was often that he suspected them to be liars." (487)
The older men are talking about battle, and this makes Henry very nervous and confused because he has never experienced battle before and doesn't know what it is like. This was Henry's first step into man hood. He is realizing what it is like to be a "man" by entering the war. The tone of this quote portrays Henry with a tone of concern and fear.
"The youth reflected. He had been used to regarding his comrade as a blatant child with an audacity grown from his inexperience, thoughtless, headstrong, jealous, and filled with a tinsel courage." (539)
This quote shows how the youth, and Henry in general are evolving and maturing. They are in a scene becoming men through their maturity from fighting in battle. They are becoming more confident and courageous.
Vee C
ReplyDeleteInitiation into manhood
“Directly he was working at his weapon like an atomic affair, he suddenly lost concern for himself and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member (502).” In this quote Henry has finally let’s go of his cowardly thoughts and his concern for himself for the first time he is actually fighting the war for the right reasons instead of his own. This quote shows initiation in to manhood because Henry transforms from a boy into a man, from a coward into a solider and from a person who enlisted into the army to a matured solider and a member of the army willing to fight for his country.
Crane tries to show us how Henry overcomes his fear of a little boy and turns into a man, by describing the way he handles the loaded rifle and the way he fires away this shows his growth of maturity from when he first joined the army.
“Henry began to study the distance between him and the enemy, He mad a vague calculations, he saw that to be firm soldiers they must go forward (571).” In this quote Henry no longer thinks like a boy he thinks like a solider at war. Henry is planning carefully, predicting the outcome of his discussion if he were to go backward to remain where he is at with his fellow soldiers he decides that the firm thing to do would be to move forwards. This goes to show initiations into manhood because in the beginning Henry would of ran but now he is more wise and experienced.
Crane continues to show Henrys growth of confidences maturity and courage in the war he is fighting. We could see that most of the fear in Henry has died compared to in the beginning when it was growing.
Mashayla C.
ReplyDeleteInitiation into manhood:
"He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was a part - a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country - was in crisis. He was welded into a common personality which was dominated by a single desire. For some moments he could not flee no more than a little finger can commit a revolution from a hand (502)”. This quotation is from when the other forces were attacking Henry and his fellow soldiers. It shows that at this time when they were in trouble Henry stepped up. He forgot about himself and began worrying about his fellow soldiers, which is why he became a man. He was mature enough not to run away from his troops and to help them out. It looks like in this quotation he uses a couple dash marks and toward the end maybe a metaphor.
The nature of fear
"He wished, without reserve, that he was at home again making the endless rounds from the house to the barn, from the barn to the fields, from the fields to the barn, from the barn to the house. He remembered he had often cursed the brindle cow and her mates, and had sometimes flung milking stools. But, from his present point of view, there was a halo of happiness about each of their heads, and he would have sacrificed all the brass buttons on the continent to have been enabled to return to them. He told himself that he was not formed for a soldier. And he mused seriously upon the radical differences between himself and the men who were dodging implike around the fires (490)." This quote is kind of towards the time when he begins thinking about running away which a way to show fear is. The quote is basically explaining how he would rather be at home, living his old life without fear of getting killed, or without the fear of everyone around him judging him because of the choices he makes.
Sarah M.
ReplyDeleteLoss of Individuality
"Perhaps at this new assault the men recalled the fact that they had been named mud diggers, and it made their situation thrice bitter" (568-569).
While fighting back the enemy, Henry and his comrades remember the derogatory nickname they had been given and it made them more intent to beat back the on-coming line. This relates to the theme because they were not considered men anymore. Yes they were part of a regiment, but you could look at this nickname from a different view point. Couldn't the men also be considered grave diggers? They were essentially fighting on the graveyard of their fallen friends and foes. So I think when the men thought of themselves as mud diggers, they wanted to prove to others and to themselves that they were not just a group with guns, but that they were an army of men fighting for a common cause. This quote could be using diction because as the men feel bitter in their situation, the tone is sour and angry as the men's emotions turn pessimistic.
"The blue whirl of men got very near, until it seemed that in truth there would be a close and frightful scuffle" (571).
The soldiers no longer have faces, voices, or feelings. In a sense they are just a mass of men. The war has made them all anonymous people fighting in the war. This quote could also be using diction because as the soldiers move into the impending battle, the whole scene is a state of confusion.
Jake B-
ReplyDeleteIndifference of Nature
1) "The Clouds tinged an earthlike yellow in the surray's and in the shadows a sorry blue" (pg 507)The quote is saying how nature doesn't really care about what is going on as far as the war and the condition of the soliders and that just as something starts looking bright and hopeful, it can quickly fade to darkness and harsh times.
2)"A yellow fog lay wallowing on the tree tops, from beneath it came the clattering of musketry" (pg 511). There was a battle going on underneath the tree tops and the fog is indifferent to it as if it is not occuring at all.
Both of these qoutes relate to the indifference of nature because their showing how nature does not care about what is going on around it
Bree R.
ReplyDeleteInitiation Into Manhood
(page 519)"The cried out to him hysterically: "I'll take care of yeh, Jim! I'll take care of yeh! I swear t'gawd I will!"
This quote made me think of him being initiated into manhood by showing how much he is starting to care about the other men in his regiment in their time of need. It shows to me that he is starting to realize that these men need him to help them out and that they do need him fighting in their regiment. Rhetorically I think the death of the tall soldier brought something in henry to life and made him want to fight.
(page 562) "The impetus of enthusiasm was theirs again. They gazed about them with looks of uplifter pride, feeling new trust in the grim, always confident weapons in their hands. And they were men."
This quote especially made me feel like Henry finally became brave enough to fly his true colors and march out into battle without any fear of being killed. I feel like this initiated him into manhood by going from the soldier that ran from battle to the soldier that lead the battle against all odds. Rhetorically I think the lifting of the flag was really the lifting of his confidence to be the man and the hero he set out to be on the battle feild.
The indifference of Nature
ReplyDelete"A yellow fog lay wallowing on the treetops. From beneath it came the clatter of musketry" ( p. 507 ). This quote is explaining how the fog is sort of blanketing what is going on beneath it. In a way it is hiding the battle from the rest of the world. It relates back to the quote because it shows that nature is very indifferent to the war that is going on. The fog just lays there in the trees as if nothing below is going on. This is a constant theme throughout the novel, in which nature is used to describe the scene and it is described as being very indifferent.
Another quote that proves this theme is "the trees began to softly sing a hymn of twilight" ( p. 513 ). The trees in the scene are described and we get a sense that they are very peaceful and that all the troubles of the world have suddenly disappeared. It is very indifferent to the battle that is about to take place. As stated before, the author likes to describe the scene using the nature around it and in most cases, nature is indifferent to what is going on.
Spencer Brosseau
ReplyDeleteNature of Fear
"He ran like a rabbit" (after seeing the dead man) p508. He was scared of death because instinctivly death is scary. This is also a similie and it kind of shows us Henry's perspective of death at the begining.
"He failed to see himself standing stoutly in the midst of [battle]". This was an initial thought of fear before he was in battle. He believes he will run aaway and has second thoughts.
Crane tries to show the "Nature of Fear" in henry and how initially it is the fear of the unknown which Henry is most afraid of, the unknown being death, and once he experiences many cases of this fear he becomes numb to it, showing that once we overcome our fear we can conquer it the way Henry does in the end.
Tim M.
ReplyDeleteThe loss of individualism
“He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was a part –a regiment, an army, a cause…” Pg 502 This quote is early on when Henry begins to realize that he isn’t Henry he is a man and a man in the regiment in the army. To other people he was a soldier being nothing more than a part of the whole and the war. Becoming part of the army is a vital part of being a soldier, you become a soldier with a rank and that is who you become you are no longer Tom the carpenter or Lou the salesman but PFC. Tom or 1st Lt. Lou of the United States Army. Once Henry is one with the army he is no longer an individual but a soldier.
“I had to order in th’ 12th to help th’ 76th, an’ I haven’t really got any. But there’s th’ 304th. They fight like a lot ‘a mule drivers. I can spare them best of any.” Pg552. This quote is said between two officers having a conversation about battle. Then men are not even seen as me but as companies in whole and called mule drivers basically saying their dead and are expendable. The people are not people they are a number in a company and are mule drivers so they are not needed and can be sent to their death. So in turn they became the farthest from individuals, they became a number.