In the novel by Stephen Crane, Crane expressed his feelings of war by using impressionism through a complex character named Henry during the Civil War. Crane used many different ways of expressing his thoughts on war. He used Henry as a teenager who looked past at the battlefield, and only saw himself as being a hero. Henry later would find out the cruelty of war as Crane emphasized. To be a hero I believe you have to be brave and noble, for your team or in this case army and not for yourself. In this case Henry was anything but brave and noble in the first half of the story. Henry was a coward who ran and left his "team" to die. Henry was imature in that he was always worried about what other people thought of him, instead of what he thought of himself.
Throughout the essay Henry was always worried about what other people's opinions were of him. A true hero wouldn't worry about what others thought of him. An example
Henry fails to become a hero but does deserve a "badge of courage". Henry illustrated that he had become a men when he overcame his fear, and looked past what others thought of him. Although he does conquire become a man, he fails to become a hero, simple because Henry doesn't demonstrate any heroism during the war. Some people may few Henry's becoming of a man as heroism, but being a hero is saving someones life, or shooting down 28 airplanes. Henry has not done anything of this status. I believe Henry has failed in his attempts of becoming a hero, but does gain many positives from his exprerience in war.
Although Henry did win his battle against fear at the end of the book, he did nothing that would make him a hero. Henry was too much at battle with himself and fought because of his fear. Again back to what I believe a hero is, "to be brave" is the opposite of being afraid. I do feel though at the end of the story Henry
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