The Red Badge of Courage

Henry Flemming enlists in the Union army during the Civil War in “The Red Badge of Courage”. His mother is unhappy about him going but helps him get ready. He marches off to war exited, but slowly begins to worry about himself. He wonders about how he will survive physically and mentally. The army marches around aimlessly it seems, giving Henry more time to think. He thinks about himself differently than I do myself, and differently than any of the other soldiers think of themselves.

What Henry is most concerned about in himself is whether or not he will run away from battle. He tells himself over and over again that he will just have to wait and see. He says that it annoys him that he does not know this about himself. I find that really unique: what angers Henry most is that he does not completely know himself. I know that I do not know myself at all. I can hardly ever predict what I will do in a situation or how I will act towards a specific person. It seems like Henry spends a lot of time getting to know himself because of how much confusion it brings him that he does not know if he would run from danger. Even though I am completely different, I understand why it is important whether or not a person runs from battle. It tests character in the most dangerous way. Henry’s thoughts remind me of the game “would you rather…” because I usually say what I would want myself to do rather than what I would actually do. I will never know if I would rather get eaten by a shark or jump off of the empire state building if I actually had to make the choice. This is how Henry Flemming is feeling. He knows what he hopes he will do, but he is unsure about what his reaction will be when he is actually in battle.

What somewhat satisfies Henry about his character dilemma is when he overhears another, very experienced soldier saying that if other people are fleeing the battle scene, he will as well, but if no one is, he will stay and fight. It reassures Henry to know that even the experienced soldiers might run away. But not only that, he is also happy to know that other soldiers are not sure what they will actually do when the time comes to fight. I am sure that most of the soldiers had this problem in their heads, but Henry turned it into a debate. It upset him more than others, and he was happy to know that other people felt the same way.

Henry Flemming is a unique character because of the way that he thinks of himself. He is frustrated when he does not know the way he will react to battle. I like this about him because it makes him stand out from the other soldiers. His character improves because of his dilemma.