Red Badge of Courage :: essays research papers

Is it Sweet and Fitting to Die for Ones Country?Stephen stretch forths The Red mark of Courage is very a unique book because it challenges the common perceptions of the civic War. The guard for granting immunity and the American way of liveliness were how writers such as Fredrick Douglass and Walt Whitman portrayed the Civil War. Crane challenges these principles by concentrating on the day-to-day reality the regiments of the northerly faced. Since the Norths main goal was to abolish slavery, they are remembered to be a concourse of men who were well equipped and prepared for appointment because they correspond the morality of the war. However, the North is shown through Crane to be a group of amateurs who are untested, escape discipline, and do not appreciate the opportunity to fight for their country and their way of life. In this sense, The Red Badge of Courage relates to life for how it is instead of how people want to remember it to be. Contrary to Crane, Cicero onc e wrote Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (It is sweet and adaption to die for ones country). Stephen Cranes The Red Badge of Courage begins as a brass of these sentiments of Cicero although, the rationale of the sentiment is challenged throughout the story, Cicero outlook is ultimately shown to be accepted in the last battle scene.In the beginning of The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, heat content, has preconceived ideals of war that lead him to believe that it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country. The young soldier and the youth are nicknames for henry and are used throughout the novel to convey the characteristics of his youth. Henry had a false sense of what war is really like because his lack of experience causes him to compares war to epic ancient battles. He idealistically thinks that his first battle will be one of those great affairs of the earth (45). Henry desperately wants to follow in the footsteps of Ancient Greek heroes and become a hero him self. He naively believes in the traditional forms of honor and courage. Dreams of the externalise of a dead soldier being laid upon his shield, following the Greek tradition of dying in battle, fill Henrys head. He lacks experience in war so he can yet imagine what it is truly like. The lack of experience makes Henry over greedy for battle and makes his belief in his inevitable greatness seem delusive and self-centered.