Being a young man from a small house in New York, all that Henry Fleming new about war is what he imagined it to be in his head. He perceived war to be a great struggle between two opposing forces fighting for their own beliefs(Ch.1 ). He believed that he would make a difference in battle and would have a direct impact on the outcome of battle. When Henry arrives for his duty in the military he begins to second guess himself. Henry begins to think that he will not fight but he will run from battle like a coward. In Chapter Three Henry is tested in battle for the first time and stays and fights

like a man should. This is the first time that Henry sees a realistic viewpoint of war. Henry begins to become angered for his government sending him on this de

Throughout this novel Crane puts Henry in situations which will test his contrast his illusions of war with the reality of battle. Henry evolves as a man throughout the story in the sense that in the beginning of the novel he believed in great wars, which were fought for a common goal. These wars were fought by courageous men who would die for their beliefs. Then Henry realizes that there is no such thing as bravery in war. Men only do what they have to, to survive. Henry's romantic notions of war have not played out, yet he found out what true war was really about.

Henry attitude toward the romantic and heroic aspects of war have changed dramatically throughout the novel. Henry is now fighting bravely and courageously. His ego is shot down quite a bit by a soldier sarcastically asking him "Mebbe yeh think yeh fit th' hull battle yestirday." At this point Henry realizes that nobody knows where they are going or why they are going their. He realizes that he is an insignificant part of a vast sea of soldiers and this removes all the ideas of heroic battles of war in Henry's mind. Bravery

little purpose. All that had changed was Henry and he was just happy to be alive.

returns to wandering in the forest again. He feels that his only way out was for his army to lose the battle so they would all share in the great shame he had felt. He stays near the battle. When Henry is struck in the by his own comrades and receives his red badge of courage, he feels that the

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Approximate Word count = 1003
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)