Henry takes the place of the color bearer, because he dies. The charge fails, and his regiment is sneered at. In the last battle, Henry's regiment takes a fence and four prisoners. As they march away, the young soldier reflects on his experiences, and figures out that he has become a new man. .
II. Value to the Reader.
A. This book is recommended to people over the age of fourteen, because the book has concepts that might prove confusing to those under that age. Why Wilson and Henry becomes different people, by the books end, and the symbolism behind the dead soldier in the woods maybe difficult concepts for children under fourteen. .
B. A person that enjoyed this book might also like The Killer Angels, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, because these are novels that go along with the time period and are books based on realism.
C. All of these novels show how a person changes, from of their experiences. All of these books have a person growing up because of the experiences around them, and so all these novels are bildungroman. .
III. Evaluation as Literature.
A. Themes: There are three main themes in this novel. These themes are manhood/masculinity, self-preservation, and disregard for human life. Throughout the novel, the young soldier experiences all of these themes at different levels, and his views on all of these change from what they were at the beginning of the novel to what they are at the end of the novel. All of these themes connect to each other, because they are all things that Henry reflects on throughout the book. .
The theme of self-preservation is important to the story, because it helps the young soldier figure out whom he is. When Henry tries to rationalize why he runs away during his second battle, he figures that it was self-preservation that made him do it, and those that stayed behind were fools, and were going against natures most innate responses. He figures that it was his duty to his country to preserve himself, so that he can serve his country again later.
