Introduction- The Red Badge of Courage is a book that takes place during the Civil War. The tells the story of Henry Fleming, (usually referred to as "the youth" in the book), a young union soldier, who is faced with the realities of war, a war in the mind of the young soldier who must choose whether to be a brave fighting soldier or whether to just run away from the fighting in order to save his life.
Through the experiences that Henry witnesses and also through the experiences of his fellow soldiers, Henry learns when faced with life and death situations that he too can become a man of courage and strength like many other soldiers.
Conflicts- The major conflicts that occur in this story are both external and internal. The obvious external conflict in the story is setting of the civil war and the battles between the union and confederate armies in the fight for our countries freedom from slavery. At first, Henry was very eager to join the army even though his mother begged him not to, then when he was faced with the fact that he was witnessing real fighting and even death it didn't take him long to change his mind and to wish he was back home.
The internal conflict in the story is really the main theme that is continuing through the book. The conflict is the battle that is going on in the mind of Henry. When Henry is confronted with the possibility of combat he argues with himself for a long time while he waits and wonders if he will be brave, and fight, or if he will be a coward and run away.
Authors Point of View- I think that the author, Stephen Crane, wrote this book to give an example of what life would be like as a young person who is faced with the situation of war and the possibility of death. Maybe the author fought in a war and he was revealing some of his fears and expressions.
In the book, Henry is able to fight during the first battle he is faced with, but the second time when the fighting starts again Henry runs off and joins a group of wounded soldiers who are moving away from the fighting.
