Identity and Relationships Fight vs. Flight The Red Badge of Courage.
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
17
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu
description
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane. Menu. Introduction Background Discussion Starters. The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane. The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction. “He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life—. of vague and bloody conflicts. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
Introduction
Background
Discussion Starters
Menu
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
“He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life—of vague and bloody conflictsthat had thrilled him with their sweep and fire.”
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
More than anything, Henry Fleming wants to be a hero.
During the Civil War, Henry leaves his family’s farm and enlists in the Union army.
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
As the novel begins, Henry’s regiment has been camped for several weeks.
The men are impatient:
Will they ever see battle?
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
Veterans of other battles tell Henry terrible stories about the enemy.
Alone in his bunk at night, Henry begins to doubt his daydreams of glory on the battlefield.
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
He wonders how he will react in the heat of battle.
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
Will he fight bravely,
or will he run away?
The Red Badge of Courage: Introduction
Will Henry earn his own “red badge”—a battle wound to prove his courage?
More important, will he learn the truth about war—and about himself?
The Red Badge of Courage: Background
“The real war will never get in the books.”
—Walt Whitman
The Red Badge of Courage: Background
In the years after the Civil War, most popular accounts of the war told an idealized, unrealistic story.
Histories and memoirs emphasized the courage and comradeship of soldiers on both sides.
The Red Badge of Courage: Background
Stephen Crane set out to write a Civil War novel in this spirit: a commercially appealing tale of heroic adventure.
The Red Badge of Courage: Background
But as he wrote, the story changed into a harsher, more realistic portrait of war.
The Red Badge of Courage: Background
Crane took details of Henry’s first battle from an actual Civil War campaign, the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville.
The Red Badge of Courage: Background
More soldiers deserted during the Battle of Chancellorsville than during any other clash of the war.
The Red Badge of Courage: Discussion Starters
Discuss (1)
• What kinds of situations challenge people to show courage?
• What would you need to know about a situation before you judged someone else’s courage in facing it?
The Red Badge of Courage: Discussion Starters
Discuss (2)
Desertion has always been considered shameful. During the Civil War it was punishable by death.
• Suppose you were a soldier in a terrible battle. What would you do if most of the soldiers around you began to run away?
• What would it take to maintain your courage?
