The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 1-3 In my opinion, this book has a very bad beginning. There is not much action throughout the first two chapters and I was about to stop reading it. I did continue to read however, and the third chapter was a little more interesting and action-packed, although not by much. This book begins with the main character, or the “youth,” not knowing whether or not he wants to enlist, while his mom tries to forbid him from it. One day he disobeys his mother and enlists against her views. He then leaves her without exchanging many words and joins the army. Now, becoming more involved in the war, he begins to wonder if he is made for the war, and whether or not he will run from it during battle. His question is finally answered at the end of chapter three, when he becomes engulfed in his first battle and is amazed by all its action. He begins to look all around him during the battle and notices such things as nature and how the other people are reacting to the war. The one thing that the youth does not do, is run away from the battle.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 4-6 Chapter four starts off with the youth and his comrades discussing how the war was going to be a lot harder to win than they had first expected. They feel that they have underestimated their opponents’ heart and are in disbelief when they find the enemy charging at them. The author begins to describe the nature around the war very often around this point by detailing the bullets whistling by branches and hitting trees. He also describes how bombshells fling up the earth and these descriptions really allow you to get a good picture in your head about what being in a war really looks like. Chapter four ends with the youth’s regiment fleeing from the battle being beaten badly by the enemy. Chapter five then begins with another surprise attack and the regiment in disbelief. They feel that they have no chance and are all tired but feel they must try to hold back the enemy. Being outnumbered and unprepared, they are amazed that they are able to hold off the enemy. Then in chapter six the enemy again charges and this time the youth is overwhelmed knowing that they will for sure lose and he runs away. He runs farther and farther believing the whole time that he was smart for leaving because his regiment would be destroyed until he meets some generals huddled together. To his disbelief they are celebrating because the youth’s regiment had withstood yet another attack and held the enemies again. At this point I believe the youth feels like a fool for fleeing a battle that his side actually won, and he probably wishes that they had just lost like he had expected.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 7-10 At this point in the book, the youth is angered and in disbelief that his comrades had won a battle that he felt he was so smart for fleeing. He begins to bring more and more self-pity upon himself and ventures deeper into the woods until he can no longer hear anything going on in the battle. Then, for no reason really, he throws a pinecone at a squirrel and it runs away. He is crazy and believes that nature is trying to tell him that he, like the squirrel, had run away because he sensed danger and it was the right thing to do. The youth then stumbles upon a dead man and believes that he is being watched by him so he takes off, believing the dead man will jump up and chase after him. This just proves to me that the youth obviously has something wrong with him and is unstable in the mind. The youth then stumbles upon a battle, watches it for a short time, and begins to walk with a few men who were wounded. He begins to wish that he too had a wound and feels like an outcast in the group until he meets one of his old buddies, Jim Conklin. The youth notices that Jim has a bad wound and tries to help him until Jim just goes absolutely crazy and dies. He then begins to walk away with a tattered man and becomes very annoyed by him because the man keeps talking about the battle he fled from and asking him where he had been wounded. The youth has enough of it and just runs away from the tattered man as he began to have illusions.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 11-13 In this section the youth wanders straight into a battle while he was walking along. He confronts a soldier and is then hit on the head with a rifle because he wouldn’t let go of him. This was surprising to me because up to this point all of the youth’s struggles have been internal but now with an injured head, he finally gets an external wound. He then just walks around very dazed and luckily stumbles upon a very friendly soldier. This soldier is very helpful and seems to know everything about Henry, the youth, without ever meeting him before. This leads me to believe that he could possibly just be a part of Henry’s imagination while Henry is very dazed from his injury. Without finding the friendly soldier, I believe that Henry probably would have passed out and possibly even died. This soldier somehow leads Henry back to his regiment and then he just disappears before the youth can thank him or even get a look at his face, which also led me to believe he could have been part of his imagination. Once Henry arrives at his regiment, the loud soldier immediately greets him and asks the youth where he’s been. Henry tells him that he was split up from his regiment during battle and then shot in the head. The soldier doesn’t even suspect the youth of lying or running away from battle which comforts Henry a lot. The loud soldier immediately tends to Henry’s head wound and even gives up his bed to Henry. Things finally seem to be going in the youth’s favor.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 14-17 This section was probably the most confusing so far in the book. For some reason, the youth becomes very confident even though he ran away. He becomes very loud and obnoxious while all the other soldiers seem to become more mature as the war goes on. The youth acts as if he is a veteran in war and talks like he knows everything. He then gets filled with hatred for the enemy because they are relentless with their attacks. His regiment is outnumbered and overmatched as they are losing yet another battle. This infuriates Henry even more and he begins to fight furiously. He advances on the enemy almost by himself and continues to load and fire his rifle even though it is burning his hand. He continues to battle like a crazy man until someone finally tells him that the enemy had already retreated. The men, especially the lieutenant, are amazed by the way he fought and now have confidence that they will win every battle they are thrown into because of how the youth fights.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 18-21 This section starts off with the regiment and the youth on a high after they just made the enemy retreat because of Henry’s great effort. Henry and his friend Wilson get a big surprise while they are getting water. They overhear a general talking about sending their regiment on a charge in which they would probably all die because they were the weakest regiment they had. Disturbed by the news, Henry and Wilson lead the all out charge on the enemy but are met by too many enemy forces and are forced to retreat. They know that they gave it their all, but also know that they failed and their regiment will once again be looked down upon. Just as things begin to look down for these two, many of their comrades come and congratulate them on their great fight. The lieutenant even told the colonel that Wilson and Henry were the two best fighters in the regiment and should be made major generals. I predict that this new confidence will lift these two friends to an even greater level in this next section and they will lead their regiment to many victories on way to winning the war. I also think that the friendly soldier will somehow show up and help Henry in the end because usually a character doesn’t just show up and then leave after about ten pages.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 22-24 The end of this book was just like the rest of it, boring. We once again find the regiment on a charge of the enemy. They charge fiercely and basically run right into the enemy. They actually have a pretty good charge, take over the enemy’s flag, and force them to retreat. They had won the battle and showed everyone that their regiment could fight better than some mule drivers, as they were compared to by the general. After the battle, the regiment was ordered to retrace their steps. They begin a long walk and take a look back at what they had done in the war. Henry begins fretting because of what he had done to the tattered man, which surprised me because he had just won a major battle and was heading home. After he thinks about it however, he begins to realize that every man does some wrong and he starts to feel proud of himself for how fiercely that he had fought. I’m still surprised that the friendly soldier never came back after helping Henry for a whole chapter and basically being the main character in that chapter. Although this book was short, it was horrible, and I am very happy that I am done reading it.
Didn't the passage of background information say that Antigone was a victim of Creon's hubris? Some of you are suggesting that Antigone is the tragic hero. Thoughts on that.
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The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 1-3
In my opinion, this book has a very bad beginning. There is not much action throughout the first two chapters and I was about to stop reading it. I did continue to read however, and the third chapter was a little more interesting and action-packed, although not by much. This book begins with the main character, or the “youth,” not knowing whether or not he wants to enlist, while his mom tries to forbid him from it. One day he disobeys his mother and enlists against her views. He then leaves her without exchanging many words and joins the army. Now, becoming more involved in the war, he begins to wonder if he is made for the war, and whether or not he will run from it during battle. His question is finally answered at the end of chapter three, when he becomes engulfed in his first battle and is amazed by all its action. He begins to look all around him during the battle and notices such things as nature and how the other people are reacting to the war. The one thing that the youth does not do, is run away from the battle.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 4-6
Chapter four starts off with the youth and his comrades discussing how the war was going to be a lot harder to win than they had first expected. They feel that they have underestimated their opponents’ heart and are in disbelief when they find the enemy charging at them. The author begins to describe the nature around the war very often around this point by detailing the bullets whistling by branches and hitting trees. He also describes how bombshells fling up the earth and these descriptions really allow you to get a good picture in your head about what being in a war really looks like. Chapter four ends with the youth’s regiment fleeing from the battle being beaten badly by the enemy. Chapter five then begins with another surprise attack and the regiment in disbelief. They feel that they have no chance and are all tired but feel they must try to hold back the enemy. Being outnumbered and unprepared, they are amazed that they are able to hold off the enemy. Then in chapter six the enemy again charges and this time the youth is overwhelmed knowing that they will for sure lose and he runs away. He runs farther and farther believing the whole time that he was smart for leaving because his regiment would be destroyed until he meets some generals huddled together. To his disbelief they are celebrating because the youth’s regiment had withstood yet another attack and held the enemies again. At this point I believe the youth feels like a fool for fleeing a battle that his side actually won, and he probably wishes that they had just lost like he had expected.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 7-10
At this point in the book, the youth is angered and in disbelief that his comrades had won a battle that he felt he was so smart for fleeing. He begins to bring more and more self-pity upon himself and ventures deeper into the woods until he can no longer hear anything going on in the battle. Then, for no reason really, he throws a pinecone at a squirrel and it runs away. He is crazy and believes that nature is trying to tell him that he, like the squirrel, had run away because he sensed danger and it was the right thing to do. The youth then stumbles upon a dead man and believes that he is being watched by him so he takes off, believing the dead man will jump up and chase after him. This just proves to me that the youth obviously has something wrong with him and is unstable in the mind. The youth then stumbles upon a battle, watches it for a short time, and begins to walk with a few men who were wounded. He begins to wish that he too had a wound and feels like an outcast in the group until he meets one of his old buddies, Jim Conklin. The youth notices that Jim has a bad wound and tries to help him until Jim just goes absolutely crazy and dies. He then begins to walk away with a tattered man and becomes very annoyed by him because the man keeps talking about the battle he fled from and asking him where he had been wounded. The youth has enough of it and just runs away from the tattered man as he began to have illusions.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 11-13
In this section the youth wanders straight into a battle while he was walking along. He confronts a soldier and is then hit on the head with a rifle because he wouldn’t let go of him. This was surprising to me because up to this point all of the youth’s struggles have been internal but now with an injured head, he finally gets an external wound. He then just walks around very dazed and luckily stumbles upon a very friendly soldier. This soldier is very helpful and seems to know everything about Henry, the youth, without ever meeting him before. This leads me to believe that he could possibly just be a part of Henry’s imagination while Henry is very dazed from his injury. Without finding the friendly soldier, I believe that Henry probably would have passed out and possibly even died. This soldier somehow leads Henry back to his regiment and then he just disappears before the youth can thank him or even get a look at his face, which also led me to believe he could have been part of his imagination. Once Henry arrives at his regiment, the loud soldier immediately greets him and asks the youth where he’s been. Henry tells him that he was split up from his regiment during battle and then shot in the head. The soldier doesn’t even suspect the youth of lying or running away from battle which comforts Henry a lot. The loud soldier immediately tends to Henry’s head wound and even gives up his bed to Henry. Things finally seem to be going in the youth’s favor.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 14-17
This section was probably the most confusing so far in the book. For some reason, the youth becomes very confident even though he ran away. He becomes very loud and obnoxious while all the other soldiers seem to become more mature as the war goes on. The youth acts as if he is a veteran in war and talks like he knows everything. He then gets filled with hatred for the enemy because they are relentless with their attacks. His regiment is outnumbered and overmatched as they are losing yet another battle. This infuriates Henry even more and he begins to fight furiously. He advances on the enemy almost by himself and continues to load and fire his rifle even though it is burning his hand. He continues to battle like a crazy man until someone finally tells him that the enemy had already retreated. The men, especially the lieutenant, are amazed by the way he fought and now have confidence that they will win every battle they are thrown into because of how the youth fights.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 18-21
This section starts off with the regiment and the youth on a high after they just made the enemy retreat because of Henry’s great effort. Henry and his friend Wilson get a big surprise while they are getting water. They overhear a general talking about sending their regiment on a charge in which they would probably all die because they were the weakest regiment they had. Disturbed by the news, Henry and Wilson lead the all out charge on the enemy but are met by too many enemy forces and are forced to retreat. They know that they gave it their all, but also know that they failed and their regiment will once again be looked down upon. Just as things begin to look down for these two, many of their comrades come and congratulate them on their great fight. The lieutenant even told the colonel that Wilson and Henry were the two best fighters in the regiment and should be made major generals. I predict that this new confidence will lift these two friends to an even greater level in this next section and they will lead their regiment to many victories on way to winning the war. I also think that the friendly soldier will somehow show up and help Henry in the end because usually a character doesn’t just show up and then leave after about ten pages.
The Red Badge of Courage – Chapters 22-24
The end of this book was just like the rest of it, boring. We once again find the regiment on a charge of the enemy. They charge fiercely and basically run right into the enemy. They actually have a pretty good charge, take over the enemy’s flag, and force them to retreat. They had won the battle and showed everyone that their regiment could fight better than some mule drivers, as they were compared to by the general. After the battle, the regiment was ordered to retrace their steps. They begin a long walk and take a look back at what they had done in the war. Henry begins fretting because of what he had done to the tattered man, which surprised me because he had just won a major battle and was heading home. After he thinks about it however, he begins to realize that every man does some wrong and he starts to feel proud of himself for how fiercely that he had fought. I’m still surprised that the friendly soldier never came back after helping Henry for a whole chapter and basically being the main character in that chapter. Although this book was short, it was horrible, and I am very happy that I am done reading it.
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