Discuss the various mental phases of the youth in terms of his experiences? Provide quotations to support your thinking. What is the purpose of Crane's close analysis of the mind of one man?
When the second battle came Henry ran away as fast as he could. He ran way because his mental state of mind was that I will save myself and not get annihilated with the others. “He had fled, he told himself, because annihilation approached. He had done a good part in saving himself, who was a little piece of the army. He had considered the time, he said, to be one in which it was the duty of every little piece to rescue itself if possible.” Henry is scared of death so he ran, so he does not have to face the fact that he could die while fighting for his country. Later he comes to realize that he was a fool for running because they won and he was the only one that ran. He felt guilty because he was the only one that did not have a “red badge of courage.” “At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.” This made him ashamed of himself, even more when he had to lie about being injured.
“He thought he must hasten to produce his tale to protect him from the missiles already at the lips of his redoubtable comrades. So, staggering before the loud soldier, he began: “Yes, yes. I've—I've had an awful time. I've been all over. Way over on th' right. Ter'ble fightin' over there. I had an awful time. I got separated from th' reg'ment. Over on th' right, I got shot. In th' head. I never see sech fightin'. Awful time. I don't see how I could a' got separated from th' reg'ment. I got shot, too.’” This reading is talking about how Henry told his comrades that he got shot so they do not find out the truth/ do not think that he is a coward. Since Henry told that story his comrades think that he did a brave thing. I believe that Henry thinks that he has a “red badge of courage” even though deep down he know that he is a coward.
I really do not know what the purpose is of Crane's close analysis of the mind of one man. I guess he did that because he wanted to let the reader know what is going through the young soldiers head. Also to get the reader to put their self into the shoe of the young soldier and try to feel what he is going through.
Austin G. The mental phases that the youth goes through are quite drastic. In the beginning of the book Henry wants to join the war because he thinks he will be portrayed as a “hero.” The thought of joining the war in his mind is something that seems cool and interesting and something that a man would want to experience. He “has dreamed of battles all his life” and of “many bloody conflicts.” When Henry says this they are just interpretations that he has of war they are not the real thing. Later in the book when he witnesses the real thing he fears it. Later on in the book instead of feeling heroic, Henry starts to feel fear of what is to come. When his “imagination went forward to fight he saw hideous possibilities.” This is where Henry starts fearing battle and the brutality of war. He hopes that his fears will not cause him to run away from battle because this will make him seem like a coward. This ultimatley does not happen though because Henry ends up fleeing battle. Henry thinks he is mentally weak because he was unable to fight with his comrades. Henry spends most of his time around wounded or dead soldiers and he wants his own “red badge of courage.” Since Henry fled from the battle he fears going back to his fellow soldiers because he is afraid they will speak badly of him. He tries to make up a false story and ends up getting one when he gets hit on the head by another soldier. He then lies and says he got shot in the head in battle. Thus his mental phase now is to get through things by lieing. The purpose of Crane’s close analysis of the mind of one man is to get everything that man is feeling. The feelings that someone has can be the most important and can help explain the mental phases one experiences. Just like with Henry the mental phases that he goes through can also be justified by the feelings and actions he has done.
Jason Phelps The youth started this book excited to join for the war, real enthusiastic on being a hero. Then he got to experience what really being in the army was about. He became scared to die, but also didn't want to be looked at as a coward. He progressed to become envious of all the other soldiers battle wounds and wanted one himself. He ended up seeing what war was really about after he saw Jim (the tall soldier) die. He now is gathering courage and is realizing what being a soldier is about. Crane analyzes this character so much to show how much this character is progressing and growing as a man and since he is a naturalistic writer he focuses on the characters which is one of the reasons why he is focuses so hard on this young soldier
This particular topic I thought was a little challenging to me. It was hard for me to grasp the concept of "the mind of one man" being the books only really focusing on Henry, and not "Man" as a whole. Unless Crane's implying that Henry is representing "Man". In that case; the only type of phasing I've seen is the phases of fear. Initial shock, the act of cowardliness, denial, confusion,guilt, and finally acceptance. In ch 12 during Henry's run into the battle, who was it between and was one of them the marching army he had walked with before,or was it just another regiment? I don't know what to think when the other regiment starts to flee just as Henry did, maybe a little funny or ironic, like I said I don't know. I found the cheerful stranger meeting somewhat random and irrelevant but I can see it becoming morally useful further in the story. I have noticed that there are a lot of different personalities to each character, which might contribute to the concept of the mind of one man. Maybe Henry is a blank slate and the surrounding characters decide his future. Each character changes his feeling at that time. In ch 13, the feeling of acceptance from Wilson eases his mind but I'm not entirely sure as to what that means to the mind of one man. In ch 15 Henry even notices the change of character in Wilson and starts to question as to why. Ch 15 also acknowledged the fact when half of Henry's regiment fled just after Henry did. This illustrating some "follow the leader" influencing that Henry had on the rest of the men. He was the first to flee and it seemed as if that was the easiest thing to do at the time so the rest of the men ,lacking leadership, did the same. But I like the fact that Wilson kind of stepped up as leader of the regiment.
The youth in this story has gone through several changes in mental state during his experiences as a soldier. At first, when he first enlists into the military he is very excited and can't wait to be considered a hero, and propped up onto a pedestal. But after a while, the youth realizes that the army is not really what he expected it to be. In fact, he now doesn't want to be in the army at all and just wants to go home. He is questioning himself and whether or not he will stay and fight or run when the time comes. Once the battle finally comes, he in fact stays for the first part of it, but after the rebel army regroups and attacks again he is not prepared for it and runs off. When he is running off he thinks that he does not deserve to die and that all of the other soldiers staying to fight are stupid. However after finding out that the army was in fact able to hold the line, he is very embarrassed of himself and afraid to hear what the others are going to say to him. Eventually when walking through the woods, he finds a large group of wounded soldiers walking and he joins them. As he is walking with the soldiers, a man asks Henry "where [his] would was at" and Henry is quickly ashamed that he does not have a "red badge of courage" to show for. He realizes that to be a hero in the army, you have to have this red badge to say that you have really fought. I believe that the author has shown all of these different phases of the youth so we can see a close examination of the mind of one man. This helps us to understand how a normal boy is going to react under very stressful situations. This close examination gives the reader an understanding of what the character is going through as well as what he is thinking.
I didn't really get the idea of what it was asking. The mind of one man had me thinking that he was a little boy who got all excited to do something or buy a toy and then he got disappointed because it wasn't what he thought it was. His first mental stage was excitement. All he wanted to do was join the army, not knowing what he was getting himself into. Then there comes the shock. He thought it was going to be this place where no one dies and you are automatically a hero. He turns out to be a coward.He runs away during the war and then comes back thinking he is a hero. He also has that stage where he is really awkward and doesn't really fit in. The next stage is denial. Just like Ryan said. He has different characters about him and he also has this way of knowing what is wrong and what is right.He knows it was wrong to run away but he didnt stop. I still feel like he is a little boy who has many emotions and needs to grow up. Throughout chapters 12-13 he is feeling things and doing things a hero wouldn't necessarily do. In my mind a hero isn't someone who feel obligated to do something because they feel it is right to do. A hero is someone who does it because they know it is the right thing to do. Such as help an older lady across the street, if someone drops something you pick it up with out being asked, going up and beyond is my idea of a hero, and changing the world. I also have no idea what Crane's analysis of the mind of one man. I think it is to base our opinion on what the Henry was doing and thinking and to put us in his mind to get the deeper meaning of the story.
Alex K. At the start of the book Henry's mental state is calm and cool. He believes that he will become a hero by simply joining the war. As the story progresses and Henry finally encounters his first battle his mental state turns to fear. He learns about the real hardships of war and what its really like. Now his idea of a hero is someone who gets wounded in battle. This changes his mental state to desire. He sees all the wounded soldiers and he thinks in order to be accepted he too must have a "red badge of courage." Wants to be accepted so badly he is willing to lie about being wounded. I feel that Crane focuses so much on the mind of one man because it emphasizes character development. When looking at one person it is much easier to see how a character grows and matures throughout a novel.
In the beginning of the story Henry is innocent and pure he and we see that by the way he talks and acts. He is naïve and believes that enlisting in the war would make him patriotic and Heroic. When they go to battle Henry thinks poorly of the soldiers who stayed to fight as absurd, dumb and not wise enough to save them selves form dying. Henry is some how trying to bring back his self pride by thinking this way without making him self feel like a coward. The more Henry hangs around his fellow soldiers the more he starts to see the true colors of them. He slowly comes to a conclusion that trying to impress the other soldiers or building a reputation and being selfish is no longer a goal he must try to accomplish.” he was occupied with his problems and in his desperation he concluded that the stupidity did not greatly matter (497).”Even though Henry starts to take the war seriously, he is some what nervous and scared. “He frequently, wiped his eyes with a coat sleeve (502).” “Before he had announced to himself that he was about to fight-he threw the obedient, well-balanced rifle into position and fired a first wild shot” (502). “Directly he was working at his weapon like an automatic affair.” (502) Henry has finally stepped out side his comfort zone, he has not transformed from his cowardly stage to a real solider. “He suddenly lost concern for himself and forgot to look at menacing fate; he became not a man but a member (502).” Henry is no longer a boy who enlisted in the army for his own selfish reasons but a man who enlisted in a war to fight a battle in which he may or may not live another day. Cranes purpose of the close analogy gives Henry such a character and we see this through his progress and the way he matures, crane really paints a picture in his readers through Henrys feelings and actions.
In the book so far Henry goes through many emotional changes. In the beginning of the book he is excited in a sense to go into the war. He was excited because he thought that by entering the war be would be seen as a hero; and he could not wait to be seen as that hero. He then gets a douse of reality and sees that there is more to be a hero then he had originally thought. When he realizes this he no longer wants to be in the war. He begins to question if he will run away from the war or if he will stay. When it comes to the second war Henry decides to run away in fear; leaving the other men to fend for themselves short handed. He then begins to feel guilty that he ran away because he realizes that not only did they win, but that he was the only one that ran away. He also is feeling bad because he doesn’t have a “red badge of courage.” He thought that those who were wounded were in a sense happy; and with that envy he had decided to lie about a previous injury that he had gotten.
I think there are different reasons for Crane switching the emotion that Henry is experiencing. It allows you to see how a normal person would react to being put into an unknown situation that they aren’t particularly comfortable with. The emotions are based on what he has experienced and gone through.
Levi J. Henry goes through various mental phases throughout the course of the story. He begins as an innocent boy that wants to go to war and be looked highly upon by his schoolmates and society in general. When he is off to war, his mental mindset shifts to believing that he is already a hero because of all the good treatment they are given. This phase continues all the way until he gets to camp where he discovers that it is very boring and dull there. This new environment shifts his mindset to being quiet and observing, he takes everything around him and thinks about it and becomes secluded from the rest of the regiment in a way. The next mind phase Henry goes through is the phase of questioning his courage and he wants to prove himself in battle. Henry goes into the battle with this mind phase and survives the battle without running, so he believes that his fear of running a battle is conquered. When they are quickly thrust into another battle, Henry has no mental barriers prepared so his mind phase switches to fear and wanting to survive. Henry justifies his running away from the battle with rationale from his mindset. Henry's next mindset is all about being scared. He's scared that he's going to die, then he's scared he's going to be caught as a deserter. Henry ends off in this scared mindset but he calms down a little bit because his lie about being shot passed through and he has a place to sleep now.
Sarah M. Throughout his short time as a soldier, Henry goes through many different mental phases. Prior to the war he felt compelled by society and pushed by the government to become a hero. Before he even fights, he seriously contemplates whether he would run or not. During the beginning of his first battle, Henry questions the sanity of the generals in power because he believes they will be easily overrun. He felt stuck in a dead end situation as "he glared about him, expecting to see the stealthy approach of his death" (495). As Henry struggled with the question of whether or not he would run, he "concluded that it would be better to get killed directly and end his troubles" (498).
Henry goes through a transformation after his first battle. Since he ran from danger, he finally answered the ever present question of his desertion. He was guilty and tried to come up with random excuses as to how he could justify himself in the eyes of the other men. As he slowly returned from the confusion of battle, he realizes that he never understood the civil war. Instead of welcoming death, he will do anything to avoid it. He seemed afraid to face reality. As a new day began on the second day of fighting, the early light "dressed the skin of the men in corpselike hues and made the tangled limbs appear pulseless and dead" (537). Henry recognizes that death will never leave his mind now, he looks at his comrads and himself in a different way. Life and death are now a constant undertaking. Henry's attitude has greatly changed, he has the confidence that "he had performed his mistakes in the darkness, so he was still a man" (542).
Crane's purpose of the analysis of the mind of one man is probably to show the uniformity of the soldiers. At one point, each man could've had similar feelings to those of Henry. His thoughts and actions were brought on by events that soldiers such as himself would've encountered. This analysis shows the details of one soldiers life and the occurrences that took place.
In the beginning of the novel, he enlists in the army thinking that it is the right thing for him to do for himself. Even when his mom thinks he should stay home and tend to the farm where he has better things going for him, he still decides that going to fight in the war is what is right for him personally. Once he's arrived, he starts to become very distant with everyone walking behind them and not really getting involved in the conversations they are having. He also starts to question his commitment as well as his fellow soldiers wether they would run in battle or not. When Henry is faced with his first battle, he does end up running away and begings to feel like he is an undeveloped soldier.
Tyler C. During these chapters, the youth begin to change. They begin to become more stronger mentally. The experiences that they have gained from war are greatly changing the youth mentally. Experiences like Henry seeing that dead soldier on the ground, or seeing injured soldiers are changing him. He is not becoming more and more familiar with death and it doesn't phase him as much as it did before. Henry, and the youth in general are very inexperienced in war, and aren't truly mature enough to be fighting in the war. When Henry sees the injured soldier, his natural instinct was to be compassionate towards the man, and want to help him. Henry is later told by another soldier that he should worry about himself, and to leave them behind. He naturally wanted to help them, but war has taught him to worry about himself first, then worry about others. Although he had learned about working as a unit from war, and not just be concerned for just himself. " He became not a man but a member". Henry also says that he is gaining confidence and a sense of mental strength from fighting in the war. He has learned a lot from his experiences, and they have taught him a lot. "His self-pride was now entirely restored. In the shade of its flourishing growth he stood with braced and self-confident legs, and since nothing could now be discovered he did not shrink from an encounter with the eyes of judges, and allowed no thoughts of his own to keep him from an attitude of manfulness. He had performed his mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man."
Henry goes through a few changes since the beginning of the novel. He starts out as very optimistic about joining the war, then has second thoughts and runs away frightened. This shows how his attitude has changed. He then regains his optimisim when he joins the group of wounded soilders after running because he wants a wound to show his bravery. I believe Crane does this with this story to show a naturalistic perspective, in that, he is an average 'youthful boy' put into an extream situation. He goes through a lot of different situations and reactes to them in what Crane might percieve a young boy doing at the time.
Bree R. Henry contimplates alot with himself while he is out on his own. First he make the choice of running off, which he soon comes to regret. Then he thinks about all the wounded men and their "red badges of courage" and becomes envious that he was a coward and did not have one. After this be begins to think about going back to camp, and realizes that all the men will think of him as a coward unless he has some sort of wound or story. Surely enough Henry gets beat in the head with a gun and has a gash on his head, when he gets back to camp he tells the men his story, “Yes, yes. I've—I've had an awful time. I've been all over. Way over on th' right. Ter'ble fightin' over there. I had an awful time. I got separated from th' reg'ment. Over on th' right, I got shot. In th' head. I never see sech fightin'. Awful time. I don't see how I could a' got separated from th' reg'ment. I got shot, too.’” they all believe him and take care of him, and now Henry thinks he's living the life. I think Cranes purpose with the mind of man basically to depict how much people can contradict with their own thinking and change the way they think all the time. Basically to show that one never really makes up their own mind fully.
Henry goes through many mental phases throughout the beginning of the book and probably until the end. I think Henry begins the story in a unreal mental phase. I say this because when contemplating if he is going to the army, he thinks that it is basically all fun in games, he does not realize the actual reality of war. I think once he is actually in the military he goes through the real and fearsome phase. I think this because he finally begins to understand that war is not all about victory and being a hero, he also may have to risk his life which causes him to be fearsome. He fears dying in war and he regrets that he even enlisted which is why he blamed it on the government. Then after the battles I think he felt pitied because he turned his back on the war and scampered away. "Since he had turned his back upon the fight, his fears had been wondrously magnified (508)." Now he feels as if he will be belittled and made fun of because he ran so he pities himself, but he also becomes mad that he followed some of the older soldiers moves by making the choice to run away.
I agree with Kailey on what Cranes purpose of this close analysis of the mind of one man. I think he does this to give us better look inside of him. It provides us with information that would normally not come out because he is thinking it inside instead of saying it out loud. I think it also gives us a better understanding of a character.
Tim M. Henry started out thinking that I want to join the army and thinks as a good think and is excited to go out and fight and win the war. When he gets the time to actually think about it he becomes frightened and is scared to death of battle. The idea of dying becomes to scary to him, the idea engulfs all of his thoughts and when he is faced with death he runs in the opposite direction. After fleeing from the scene of battle Henry realizes that he is a coward and that he needs to prove that he isn’t one. His idea to achieve this was to get a “red badge of courage” or in easier terms to get shoot or wounded in battle to prove his bravery. Jim was the one who showed him that war is actually a bloody and violent place and from then on out he is determined to get is achievement. Craine analyzes Henry because the story is based on him developing as a character and as a soldier. For Henry to change into a soldier something he will not become until he realize what all soldiers should. From the Band of Brothers mini series comes an excellent quote which is that “to be a good soldier you must realize that you are already dead so that you will not fear anything” this is said to a soldier similar to Henry who ran from battle on D-Day in WW II. This illustrates exactly what Henry must learn to become a hero
In "The Red Badge of Courage", Henry goes through several mental phases. In the beginning, Henry is in the mental state of almost being oblivious to what is going on around him. He does not fully comprehend what goes on during war or on a battlefield. I believe that he joins the war for recognition and for popularity. Then when he enlists in the war he comes to the realization that war is about sacrifice and this is when Henry moves into his next mental phase of realization. When Henry first gets into battle he realizes that being in a war is not all about just sitting around and waiting but about actually going out and fighting. This brings about internal conflict for Henry and whether he is actually prepared to fight in a battle. His next mental phase is when Henry runs away, when he decides that he is too scared and he can not handle the pressure of another fight. This mental phase is fear. However, his mental phase could also be classified as denial because Henry did not want to accept the fact that running away was cowardice and he was fearful, but rather, that running away from the surprise attack was the right thing to do. The final mental phase that Henry goes through at this point in time is acceptace. I believe that when Henry is talking to Wilson he accepts the fact that he is the best soldier and what he did was wrong. But that the next battle that they have he will make the best of it and he will become a better soldier. I believe that Henry has matured over the last 15 chapters. I would agree with Kailey in why Crane analyzed one man's mind. Crane's analysis of one character's mind would help readers understand the deatailed developments that one person goes through every second of every day rather than major events in several characters' lives. Detailing one character's mind allows readers to understand and perhaps relate to the character and their thoughts and actions.
In "The Red Badge of Courage", Henry goes through several mental phases. In the beginning, Henry is in the mental state of almost being oblivious to what is going on around him. He does not fully comprehend what goes on during war or on a battlefield. I believe that he joins the war for recognition and for popularity. Then when he enlists in the war he comes to the realization that war is about sacrifice and this is when Henry moves into his next mental phase of realization. When Henry first gets into battle he realizes that being in a war is not all about just sitting around and waiting but about actually going out and fighting. This brings about internal conflict for Henry and whether he is actually prepared to fight in a battle. His next mental phase is when Henry runs away, when he decides that he is too scared and he can not handle the pressure of another fight. This mental phase is fear. However, his mental phase could also be classified as denial because Henry did not want to accept the fact that running away was cowardice and he was fearful, but rather, that running away from the surprise attack was the right thing to do. The night and final mental phase that Henry goes through at this point in time is acceptace. I believe that when Henry is talking to Wilson he accepts the fact that he is the best soldier and what he did was wrong. But that the next battle that they have he will make the best of it and he will become a better soldier. I believe that Henry has matured over the last 15 chapters. I would agree with Kailey in why Crane analyzed one man's mind. Crane's analysis of one character's mind would help readers understand the deatailed developments that one person goes through every second of every day rather than major events in several characters' lives. Detailing one character's mind allows readers to understand and perhaps relate to the character and their thoughts and actions.
Kailey Drake
ReplyDeleteWhen the second battle came Henry ran away as fast as he could. He ran way because his mental state of mind was that I will save myself and not get annihilated with the others. “He had fled, he told himself, because annihilation approached. He had done a good part in saving himself, who was a little piece of the army. He had considered the time, he said, to be one in which it was the duty of every little piece to rescue itself if possible.” Henry is scared of death so he ran, so he does not have to face the fact that he could die while fighting for his country. Later he comes to realize that he was a fool for running because they won and he was the only one that ran. He felt guilty because he was the only one that did not have a “red badge of courage.” “At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.” This made him ashamed of himself, even more when he had to lie about being injured.
“He thought he must hasten to produce his tale to protect him from the missiles already at the lips of his redoubtable comrades. So, staggering before the loud soldier, he began: “Yes, yes. I've—I've had an awful time. I've been all over. Way over on th' right. Ter'ble fightin' over there. I had an awful time. I got separated from th' reg'ment. Over on th' right, I got shot. In th' head. I never see sech fightin'. Awful time. I don't see how I could a' got separated from th' reg'ment. I got shot, too.’” This reading is talking about how Henry told his comrades that he got shot so they do not find out the truth/ do not think that he is a coward. Since Henry told that story his comrades think that he did a brave thing. I believe that Henry thinks that he has a “red badge of courage” even though deep down he know that he is a coward.
I really do not know what the purpose is of Crane's close analysis of the mind of one man. I guess he did that because he wanted to let the reader know what is going through the young soldiers head. Also to get the reader to put their self into the shoe of the young soldier and try to feel what he is going through.
Austin G.
ReplyDeleteThe mental phases that the youth goes through are quite drastic. In the beginning of the book Henry wants to join the war because he thinks he will be portrayed as a “hero.” The thought of joining the war in his mind is something that seems cool and interesting and something that a man would want to experience. He “has dreamed of battles all his life” and of “many bloody conflicts.” When Henry says this they are just interpretations that he has of war they are not the real thing. Later in the book when he witnesses the real thing he fears it.
Later on in the book instead of feeling heroic, Henry starts to feel fear of what is to come. When his “imagination went forward to fight he saw hideous possibilities.” This is where Henry starts fearing battle and the brutality of war. He hopes that his fears will not cause him to run away from battle because this will make him seem like a coward. This ultimatley does not happen though because Henry ends up fleeing battle. Henry thinks he is mentally weak because he was unable to fight with his comrades. Henry spends most of his time around wounded or dead soldiers and he wants his own “red badge of courage.”
Since Henry fled from the battle he fears going back to his fellow soldiers because he is afraid they will speak badly of him. He tries to make up a false story and ends up getting one when he gets hit on the head by another soldier. He then lies and says he got shot in the head in battle. Thus his mental phase now is to get through things by lieing.
The purpose of Crane’s close analysis of the mind of one man is to get everything that man is feeling. The feelings that someone has can be the most important and can help explain the mental phases one experiences. Just like with Henry the mental phases that he goes through can also be justified by the feelings and actions he has done.
Jason Phelps
ReplyDeleteThe youth started this book excited to join for the war, real enthusiastic on being a hero. Then he got to experience what really being in the army was about. He became scared to die, but also didn't want to be looked at as a coward. He progressed to become envious of all the other soldiers battle wounds and wanted one himself. He ended up seeing what war was really about after he saw Jim (the tall soldier) die. He now is gathering courage and is realizing what being a soldier is about. Crane analyzes this character so much to show how much this character is progressing and growing as a man and since he is a naturalistic writer he focuses on the characters which is one of the reasons why he is focuses so hard on this young soldier
Ryann N.
ReplyDeleteThis particular topic I thought was a little challenging to me. It was hard for me to grasp the concept of "the mind of one man" being the books only really focusing on Henry, and not "Man" as a whole. Unless Crane's implying that Henry is representing "Man". In that case; the only type of phasing I've seen is the phases of fear. Initial shock, the act of cowardliness, denial, confusion,guilt, and finally acceptance. In ch 12 during Henry's run into the battle, who was it between and was one of them the marching army he had walked with before,or was it just another regiment? I don't know what to think when the other regiment starts to flee just as Henry did, maybe a little funny or ironic, like I said I don't know. I found the cheerful stranger meeting somewhat random and irrelevant but I can see it becoming morally useful further in the story. I have noticed that there are a lot of different personalities to each character, which might contribute to the concept of the mind of one man. Maybe Henry is a blank slate and the surrounding characters decide his future. Each character changes his feeling at that time. In ch 13, the feeling of acceptance from Wilson eases his mind but I'm not entirely sure as to what that means to the mind of one man. In ch 15 Henry even notices the change of character in Wilson and starts to question as to why. Ch 15 also acknowledged the fact when half of Henry's regiment fled just after Henry did. This illustrating some "follow the leader" influencing that Henry had on the rest of the men. He was the first to flee and it seemed as if that was the easiest thing to do at the time so the rest of the men ,lacking leadership, did the same. But I like the fact that Wilson kind of stepped up as leader of the regiment.
Griffin B
ReplyDeleteThe youth in this story has gone through several changes in mental state during his experiences as a soldier. At first, when he first enlists into the military he is very excited and can't wait to be considered a hero, and propped up onto a pedestal. But after a while, the youth realizes that the army is not really what he expected it to be. In fact, he now doesn't want to be in the army at all and just wants to go home. He is questioning himself and whether or not he will stay and fight or run when the time comes. Once the battle finally comes, he in fact stays for the first part of it, but after the rebel army regroups and attacks again he is not prepared for it and runs off. When he is running off he thinks that he does not deserve to die and that all of the other soldiers staying to fight are stupid. However after finding out that the army was in fact able to hold the line, he is very embarrassed of himself and afraid to hear what the others are going to say to him. Eventually when walking through the woods, he finds a large group of wounded soldiers walking and he joins them. As he is walking with the soldiers, a man asks Henry "where [his] would was at" and Henry is quickly ashamed that he does not have a "red badge of courage" to show for. He realizes that to be a hero in the army, you have to have this red badge to say that you have really fought. I believe that the author has shown all of these different phases of the youth so we can see a close examination of the mind of one man. This helps us to understand how a normal boy is going to react under very stressful situations. This close examination gives the reader an understanding of what the character is going through as well as what he is thinking.
I didn't really get the idea of what it was asking. The mind of one man had me thinking that he was a little boy who got all excited to do something or buy a toy and then he got disappointed because it wasn't what he thought it was. His first mental stage was excitement. All he wanted to do was join the army, not knowing what he was getting himself into. Then there comes the shock. He thought it was going to be this place where no one dies and you are automatically a hero. He turns out to be a coward.He runs away during the war and then comes back thinking he is a hero. He also has that stage where he is really awkward and doesn't really fit in. The next stage is denial. Just like Ryan said. He has different characters about him and he also has this way of knowing what is wrong and what is right.He knows it was wrong to run away but he didnt stop. I still feel like he is a little boy who has many emotions and needs to grow up. Throughout chapters 12-13 he is feeling things and doing things a hero wouldn't necessarily do. In my mind a hero isn't someone who feel obligated to do something because they feel it is right to do. A hero is someone who does it because they know it is the right thing to do. Such as help an older lady across the street, if someone drops something you pick it up with out being asked, going up and beyond is my idea of a hero, and changing the world.
ReplyDeleteI also have no idea what Crane's analysis of the mind of one man. I think it is to base our opinion on what the Henry was doing and thinking and to put us in his mind to get the deeper meaning of the story.
Alex K.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the book Henry's mental state is calm and cool. He believes that he will become a hero by simply joining the war. As the story progresses and Henry finally encounters his first battle his mental state turns to fear. He learns about the real hardships of war and what its really like. Now his idea of a hero is someone who gets wounded in battle. This changes his mental state to desire. He sees all the wounded soldiers and he thinks in order to be accepted he too must have a "red badge of courage." Wants to be accepted so badly he is willing to lie about being wounded.
I feel that Crane focuses so much on the mind of one man because it emphasizes character development. When looking at one person it is much easier to see how a character grows and matures throughout a novel.
Vee C
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the story Henry is innocent and pure he and we see that by the way he talks and acts. He is naïve and believes that enlisting in the war would make him patriotic and Heroic. When they go to battle Henry thinks poorly of the soldiers who stayed to fight as absurd, dumb and not wise enough to save them selves form dying. Henry is some how trying to bring back his self pride by thinking this way without making him self feel like a coward. The more Henry hangs around his fellow soldiers the more he starts to see the true colors of them. He slowly comes to a conclusion that trying to impress the other soldiers or building a reputation and being selfish is no longer a goal he must try to accomplish.” he was occupied with his problems and in his desperation he concluded that the stupidity did not greatly matter (497).”Even though Henry starts to take the war seriously, he is some what nervous and scared. “He frequently, wiped his eyes with a coat sleeve (502).” “Before he had announced to himself that he was about to fight-he threw the obedient, well-balanced rifle into position and fired a first wild shot” (502). “Directly he was working at his weapon like an automatic affair.” (502) Henry has finally stepped out side his comfort zone, he has not transformed from his cowardly stage to a real solider. “He suddenly lost concern for himself and forgot to look at menacing fate; he became not a man but a member (502).” Henry is no longer a boy who enlisted in the army for his own selfish reasons but a man who enlisted in a war to fight a battle in which he may or may not live another day. Cranes purpose of the close analogy gives Henry such a character and we see this through his progress and the way he matures, crane really paints a picture in his readers through Henrys feelings and actions.
Haley L
ReplyDeleteIn the book so far Henry goes through many emotional changes. In the beginning of the book he is excited in a sense to go into the war. He was excited because he thought that by entering the war be would be seen as a hero; and he could not wait to be seen as that hero. He then gets a douse of reality and sees that there is more to be a hero then he had originally thought. When he realizes this he no longer wants to be in the war. He begins to question if he will run away from the war or if he will stay. When it comes to the second war Henry decides to run away in fear; leaving the other men to fend for themselves short handed. He then begins to feel guilty that he ran away because he realizes that not only did they win, but that he was the only one that ran away. He also is feeling bad because he doesn’t have a “red badge of courage.” He thought that those who were wounded were in a sense happy; and with that envy he had decided to lie about a previous injury that he had gotten.
I think there are different reasons for Crane switching the emotion that Henry is experiencing. It allows you to see how a normal person would react to being put into an unknown situation that they aren’t particularly comfortable with. The emotions are based on what he has experienced and gone through.
Levi J.
ReplyDeleteHenry goes through various mental phases throughout the course of the story. He begins as an innocent boy that wants to go to war and be looked highly upon by his schoolmates and society in general. When he is off to war, his mental mindset shifts to believing that he is already a hero because of all the good treatment they are given. This phase continues all the way until he gets to camp where he discovers that it is very boring and dull there. This new environment shifts his mindset to being quiet and observing, he takes everything around him and thinks about it and becomes secluded from the rest of the regiment in a way. The next mind phase Henry goes through is the phase of questioning his courage and he wants to prove himself in battle. Henry goes into the battle with this mind phase and survives the battle without running, so he believes that his fear of running a battle is conquered. When they are quickly thrust into another battle, Henry has no mental barriers prepared so his mind phase switches to fear and wanting to survive. Henry justifies his running away from the battle with rationale from his mindset. Henry's next mindset is all about being scared. He's scared that he's going to die, then he's scared he's going to be caught as a deserter. Henry ends off in this scared mindset but he calms down a little bit because his lie about being shot passed through and he has a place to sleep now.
Sarah M.
ReplyDeleteThroughout his short time as a soldier, Henry goes through many different mental phases. Prior to the war he felt compelled by society and pushed by the government to become a hero. Before he even fights, he seriously contemplates whether he would run or not. During the beginning of his first battle, Henry questions the sanity of the generals in power because he believes they will be easily overrun. He felt stuck in a dead end situation as "he glared about him, expecting to see the stealthy approach of his death" (495). As Henry struggled with the question of whether or not he would run, he "concluded that it would be better to get killed directly and end his troubles" (498).
Henry goes through a transformation after his first battle. Since he ran from danger, he finally answered the ever present question of his desertion. He was guilty and tried to come up with random excuses as to how he could justify himself in the eyes of the other men. As he slowly returned from the confusion of battle, he realizes that he never understood the civil war. Instead of welcoming death, he will do anything to avoid it. He seemed afraid to face reality. As a new day began on the second day of fighting, the early light "dressed the skin of the men in corpselike hues and made the tangled limbs appear pulseless and dead" (537). Henry recognizes that death will never leave his mind now, he looks at his comrads and himself in a different way. Life and death are now a constant undertaking. Henry's attitude has greatly changed, he has the confidence that "he had performed his mistakes in the darkness, so he was still a man" (542).
Crane's purpose of the analysis of the mind of one man is probably to show the uniformity of the soldiers. At one point, each man could've had similar feelings to those of Henry. His thoughts and actions were brought on by events that soldiers such as himself would've encountered. This analysis shows the details of one soldiers life and the occurrences that took place.
Jake B
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the novel, he enlists in the army thinking that it is the right thing for him to do for himself. Even when his mom thinks he should stay home and tend to the farm where he has better things going for him, he still decides that going to fight in the war is what is right for him personally. Once he's arrived, he starts to become very distant with everyone walking behind them and not really getting involved in the conversations they are having. He also starts to question his commitment as well as his fellow soldiers wether they would run in battle or not. When Henry is faced with his first battle, he does end up running away and begings to feel like he is an undeveloped soldier.
Tyler C.
ReplyDeleteDuring these chapters, the youth begin to change. They begin to become more stronger mentally. The experiences that they have gained from war are greatly changing the youth mentally. Experiences like Henry seeing that dead soldier on the ground, or seeing injured soldiers are changing him. He is not becoming more and more familiar with death and it doesn't phase him as much as it did before.
Henry, and the youth in general are very inexperienced in war, and aren't truly mature enough to be fighting in the war. When Henry sees the injured soldier, his natural instinct was to be compassionate towards the man, and want to help him. Henry is later told by another soldier that he should worry about himself, and to leave them behind. He naturally wanted to help them, but war has taught him to worry about himself first, then worry about others. Although he had learned about working as a unit from war, and not just be concerned for just himself. " He became not a man but a member".
Henry also says that he is gaining confidence and a sense of mental strength from fighting in the war. He has learned a lot from his experiences, and they have taught him a lot. "His self-pride was now entirely restored. In the shade of its flourishing growth he stood with braced and self-confident legs, and since nothing could now be discovered he did not shrink from an encounter with the eyes of judges, and allowed no thoughts of his own to keep him from an attitude of manfulness. He had performed his mistakes in the dark, so he was still a man."
Henry goes through a few changes since the beginning of the novel. He starts out as very optimistic about joining the war, then has second thoughts and runs away frightened. This shows how his attitude has changed. He then regains his optimisim when he joins the group of wounded soilders after running because he wants a wound to show his bravery. I believe Crane does this with this story to show a naturalistic perspective, in that, he is an average 'youthful boy' put into an extream situation. He goes through a lot of different situations and reactes to them in what Crane might percieve a young boy doing at the time.
ReplyDeleteThat last comment was from Spencer
ReplyDeleteBree R.
ReplyDeleteHenry contimplates alot with himself while he is out on his own. First he make the choice of running off, which he soon comes to regret. Then he thinks about all the wounded men and their "red badges of courage" and becomes envious that he was a coward and did not have one. After this be begins to think about going back to camp, and realizes that all the men will think of him as a coward unless he has some sort of wound or story. Surely enough Henry gets beat in the head with a gun and has a gash on his head, when he gets back to camp he tells the men his story, “Yes, yes. I've—I've had an awful time. I've been all over. Way over on th' right. Ter'ble fightin' over there. I had an awful time. I got separated from th' reg'ment. Over on th' right, I got shot. In th' head. I never see sech fightin'. Awful time. I don't see how I could a' got separated from th' reg'ment. I got shot, too.’” they all believe him and take care of him, and now Henry thinks he's living the life.
I think Cranes purpose with the mind of man basically to depict how much people can contradict with their own thinking and change the way they think all the time. Basically to show that one never really makes up their own mind fully.
Mashayla C.
ReplyDeleteHenry goes through many mental phases throughout the beginning of the book and probably until the end. I think Henry begins the story in a unreal mental phase. I say this because when contemplating if he is going to the army, he thinks that it is basically all fun in games, he does not realize the actual reality of war. I think once he is actually in the military he goes through the real and fearsome phase. I think this because he finally begins to understand that war is not all about victory and being a hero, he also may have to risk his life which causes him to be fearsome. He fears dying in war and he regrets that he even enlisted which is why he blamed it on the government. Then after the battles I think he felt pitied because he turned his back on the war and scampered away. "Since he had turned his back upon the fight, his fears had been wondrously magnified (508)." Now he feels as if he will be belittled and made fun of because he ran so he pities himself, but he also becomes mad that he followed some of the older soldiers moves by making the choice to run away.
I agree with Kailey on what Cranes purpose of this close analysis of the mind of one man. I think he does this to give us better look inside of him. It provides us with information that would normally not come out because he is thinking it inside instead of saying it out loud. I think it also gives us a better understanding of a character.
Tim M.
ReplyDeleteHenry started out thinking that I want to join the army and thinks as a good think and is excited to go out and fight and win the war. When he gets the time to actually think about it he becomes frightened and is scared to death of battle. The idea of dying becomes to scary to him, the idea engulfs all of his thoughts and when he is faced with death he runs in the opposite direction. After fleeing from the scene of battle Henry realizes that he is a coward and that he needs to prove that he isn’t one. His idea to achieve this was to get a “red badge of courage” or in easier terms to get shoot or wounded in battle to prove his bravery. Jim was the one who showed him that war is actually a bloody and violent place and from then on out he is determined to get is achievement. Craine analyzes Henry because the story is based on him developing as a character and as a soldier. For Henry to change into a soldier something he will not become until he realize what all soldiers should. From the Band of Brothers mini series comes an excellent quote which is that “to be a good soldier you must realize that you are already dead so that you will not fear anything” this is said to a soldier similar to Henry who ran from battle on D-Day in WW II. This illustrates exactly what Henry must learn to become a hero
Miranda G.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Red Badge of Courage", Henry goes through several mental phases. In the beginning, Henry is in the mental state of almost being oblivious to what is going on around him. He does not fully comprehend what goes on during war or on a battlefield. I believe that he joins the war for recognition and for popularity. Then when he enlists in the war he comes to the realization that war is about sacrifice and this is when Henry moves into his next mental phase of realization. When Henry first gets into battle he realizes that being in a war is not all about just sitting around and waiting but about actually going out and fighting. This brings about internal conflict for Henry and whether he is actually prepared to fight in a battle. His next mental phase is when Henry runs away, when he decides that he is too scared and he can not handle the pressure of another fight. This mental phase is fear. However, his mental phase could also be classified as denial because Henry did not want to accept the fact that running away was cowardice and he was fearful, but rather, that running away from the surprise attack was the right thing to do. The final mental phase that Henry goes through at this point in time is acceptace. I believe that when Henry is talking to Wilson he accepts the fact that he is the best soldier and what he did was wrong. But that the next battle that they have he will make the best of it and he will become a better soldier. I believe that Henry has matured over the last 15 chapters.
I would agree with Kailey in why Crane analyzed one man's mind. Crane's analysis of one character's mind would help readers understand the deatailed developments that one person goes through every second of every day rather than major events in several characters' lives. Detailing one character's mind allows readers to understand and perhaps relate to the character and their thoughts and actions.
Miranda G.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Red Badge of Courage", Henry goes through several mental phases. In the beginning, Henry is in the mental state of almost being oblivious to what is going on around him. He does not fully comprehend what goes on during war or on a battlefield. I believe that he joins the war for recognition and for popularity. Then when he enlists in the war he comes to the realization that war is about sacrifice and this is when Henry moves into his next mental phase of realization. When Henry first gets into battle he realizes that being in a war is not all about just sitting around and waiting but about actually going out and fighting. This brings about internal conflict for Henry and whether he is actually prepared to fight in a battle. His next mental phase is when Henry runs away, when he decides that he is too scared and he can not handle the pressure of another fight. This mental phase is fear. However, his mental phase could also be classified as denial because Henry did not want to accept the fact that running away was cowardice and he was fearful, but rather, that running away from the surprise attack was the right thing to do. The night and final mental phase that Henry goes through at this point in time is acceptace. I believe that when Henry is talking to Wilson he accepts the fact that he is the best soldier and what he did was wrong. But that the next battle that they have he will make the best of it and he will become a better soldier. I believe that Henry has matured over the last 15 chapters.
I would agree with Kailey in why Crane analyzed one man's mind. Crane's analysis of one character's mind would help readers understand the deatailed developments that one person goes through every second of every day rather than major events in several characters' lives. Detailing one character's mind allows readers to understand and perhaps relate to the character and their thoughts and actions.