"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 1-3 For some strange reason, I especially enjoy war novels. This is rather surprising to me, since I do not consider myself a violent person. I have only recently discovered this like of war novels because I have only recently begun reading them. However, as I have begun reading The Red Badge of Courage, I have come to better realize why I enjoy reading war novels. War is something that I have never personally experienced. Like the main character in this novel, the young soldier Henry, I think of war as a thing of history, something that happened eons ago that does not affect me. As I read how Henry struggled to learn how he would react in an actual battle, I began to wonder the same thing. While I do not think I would have enlisted as Henry did, if I were drafted I would have no idea how I would react in battle because I have never partaken in battle. War is a terrible thing that you can not truly understand until you experience it; war cannot be fully comprehended by reading of it alone. I now know that it is the mystery of war that attracts my mind to war novels.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 4-7 It is my opinion that the young soldier is a complete psycho. I have drawn this conclusion about his mental state after reading of his thoughts and actions once he learned that his side won the battle that he ran away from. Now I would be more sympathetic to the young soldier had he simply had a psychological breakdown; but this was not the extent of his reactions. Once he began reasoning that his flight from battle was justifiable because a squirrel ran away when he threw a pine cone at it, the young soldier lost all of my sympathy. I could forgive his cowardice of running away from a battle; after all, I do not know how I would react in such a situation. However, when the young soldier began believing that the dead man would get up, start talking, and chase after him, the young soldier gave in to madness. He let his fears get the better of him, and began acting like a lunatic. I felt sorry for the young soldier until he started acting crazy, at which point I found his behavior quite comical.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 8-11 I found the description of Jim Conklin’s final minutes of life to be quite creepy. Yet at the same time I found that portion of the book to be quite interesting. Death, like war, is something I have yet to closely encounter in my life. I have been lucky enough not to lose many people whom I know and care dearly about to the cold grip of death yet. Therefore, I think it is most appropriate that like the passage about the young soldier’s first battle, I was most intrigued with the section about Jim’s death. It is logical that I am fascinated by books that incorporate both war and death because I am unfamiliar with both subjects in the real world. I also now feel sorry for the young soldier again because he has begun to beat himself up on the inside for his decision to flee his first battle. I think that I feel sorry for him largely because I too am very hard on myself when I make a decision that I later regret. I often get mad at myself and sometimes even feel ashamed when I make regretful decision.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 12-14 I found this portion of the book to be quite interesting. The young soldier’s head injury was quite unexpected. I never suspected that he would be wounded, much less by one of his fellow Union soldiers. I was pleased to read of such an interesting and surprising twist to the story. In my opinion, up until the twist in the story the book had become rather slow and lethargic. Nothing interesting was happening and I was getting quite bored with the story. However, the young soldier’s injury brought a much needed change in the direction of this story. This twist in the plot added new purpose to a story that desperately needed motivation. I was also very surprised by how different the loud soldier had become when the young soldier rejoined him. The loud soldier matured so much in such a short amount of time. He morphed from a whiny, complaining boy to a wise, well-mannered young man. The loud soldier’s rapid maturation was a perfect example of how greatly war can change people.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 15-17 I thought it quite odd that the young soldier’s friend, the loud soldier, gave the young soldier a packet of letters. I was more surprised that the loud soldier was so distraught at the possibility of death. The book said he spoke of his death while sobbing and crying, and I am surprised that he acted so. Up until that point he seemed to be a man of great courage and valor. That part of the book shows that no matter how brave a person may be the prospect of their death still frightens them. It is difficult and scary for many to consider that some day they will expire and no longer be on this earth because death is something that is uncertain. No one knows exactly what death is like or what it is like after death and that is quite perplexing. I also found it shocking how the young soldier fought with such vigor in Chapter 17. I did not think he had it in him because of his previous more cowardly reaction towards battle.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 18-20 It was quite mean of the general to refer to the regiment as a bunch of mule drivers. It was downright cruel of the general to send the regiment into battle knowing that most of them would not survive. The general acted unethically and immorally when he sent the regiment into a battle they could not win. He was ethically and morally bound to protect his troops, and he certainly did not protect them by sending them into an impossible situation. The worst part was that the young soldier and his friend overheard the general call them mule drivers. I think it would have been horrible to know ahead of time that you had no chance at victory. Your self-esteem would be incredibly low knowing that your general thought your regiment had no chance to win and that few of you would survive. Nevertheless, the young soldier and his friend acted bravely and courageously when most others acted cowardly, which greatly surprised me since they were the only two who knew from the beginning that they had no chance at survival.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 21-24 This final portion of the book presented a fine example of how good thoughts and actions can block out bad thoughts and actions. A regiment of veterans taunts the young soldier’s regiment for fighting so hard. The general ridicules the young soldier’s regiment again when regiment the feels they performed well in the most recent battle. Yet when the young soldier and his friend hear from their fellow soldiers that their lieutenant and the colonel spoke highly of them, both soldiers are in high spirits. They entirely forget their previous unhappiness and feel not only relieved but inspired and rededicated. Another example of this theme of good overcoming bad happened after the last battle described in the novel. The young soldier should have felt happy because his side had won the battle, but he instead was fretting because he was recalling his flight from the first battle. However, when he realized how brave he had been in battle since his first flight, he immediately felt happy and content. The last sentence of this novel was a metaphor for the good overcoming evil theme. The shining sun rays represented the good prevailing and the rain clouds represented the bad. Overall, I thought this novel was decent, but not great.
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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"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 1-3
For some strange reason, I especially enjoy war novels. This is rather surprising to me, since I do not consider myself a violent person. I have only recently discovered this like of war novels because I have only recently begun reading them. However, as I have begun reading The Red Badge of Courage, I have come to better realize why I enjoy reading war novels. War is something that I have never personally experienced. Like the main character in this novel, the young soldier Henry, I think of war as a thing of history, something that happened eons ago that does not affect me. As I read how Henry struggled to learn how he would react in an actual battle, I began to wonder the same thing. While I do not think I would have enlisted as Henry did, if I were drafted I would have no idea how I would react in battle because I have never partaken in battle. War is a terrible thing that you can not truly understand until you experience it; war cannot be fully comprehended by reading of it alone. I now know that it is the mystery of war that attracts my mind to war novels.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 4-7
It is my opinion that the young soldier is a complete psycho. I have drawn this conclusion about his mental state after reading of his thoughts and actions once he learned that his side won the battle that he ran away from. Now I would be more sympathetic to the young soldier had he simply had a psychological breakdown; but this was not the extent of his reactions. Once he began reasoning that his flight from battle was justifiable because a squirrel ran away when he threw a pine cone at it, the young soldier lost all of my sympathy. I could forgive his cowardice of running away from a battle; after all, I do not know how I would react in such a situation. However, when the young soldier began believing that the dead man would get up, start talking, and chase after him, the young soldier gave in to madness. He let his fears get the better of him, and began acting like a lunatic. I felt sorry for the young soldier until he started acting crazy, at which point I found his behavior quite comical.
"Red Badge of Courage" Chapters 8-11
I found the description of Jim Conklin’s final minutes of life to be quite creepy. Yet at the same time I found that portion of the book to be quite interesting. Death, like war, is something I have yet to closely encounter in my life. I have been lucky enough not to lose many people whom I know and care dearly about to the cold grip of death yet. Therefore, I think it is most appropriate that like the passage about the young soldier’s first battle, I was most intrigued with the section about Jim’s death. It is logical that I am fascinated by books that incorporate both war and death because I am unfamiliar with both subjects in the real world. I also now feel sorry for the young soldier again because he has begun to beat himself up on the inside for his decision to flee his first battle. I think that I feel sorry for him largely because I too am very hard on myself when I make a decision that I later regret. I often get mad at myself and sometimes even feel ashamed when I make regretful decision.
"Red Badge of Courage"
Chapters 12-14
I found this portion of the book to be quite interesting. The young soldier’s head injury was quite unexpected. I never suspected that he would be wounded, much less by one of his fellow Union soldiers. I was pleased to read of such an interesting and surprising twist to the story. In my opinion, up until the twist in the story the book had become rather slow and lethargic. Nothing interesting was happening and I was getting quite bored with the story. However, the young soldier’s injury brought a much needed change in the direction of this story. This twist in the plot added new purpose to a story that desperately needed motivation. I was also very surprised by how different the loud soldier had become when the young soldier rejoined him. The loud soldier matured so much in such a short amount of time. He morphed from a whiny, complaining boy to a wise, well-mannered young man. The loud soldier’s rapid maturation was a perfect example of how greatly war can change people.
"Red Badge of Courage"
Chapters 15-17
I thought it quite odd that the young soldier’s friend, the loud soldier, gave the young soldier a packet of letters. I was more surprised that the loud soldier was so distraught at the possibility of death. The book said he spoke of his death while sobbing and crying, and I am surprised that he acted so. Up until that point he seemed to be a man of great courage and valor. That part of the book shows that no matter how brave a person may be the prospect of their death still frightens them. It is difficult and scary for many to consider that some day they will expire and no longer be on this earth because death is something that is uncertain. No one knows exactly what death is like or what it is like after death and that is quite perplexing. I also found it shocking how the young soldier fought with such vigor in Chapter 17. I did not think he had it in him because of his previous more cowardly reaction towards battle.
"Red Badge of Courage"
Chapters 18-20
It was quite mean of the general to refer to the regiment as a bunch of mule drivers. It was downright cruel of the general to send the regiment into battle knowing that most of them would not survive. The general acted unethically and immorally when he sent the regiment into a battle they could not win. He was ethically and morally bound to protect his troops, and he certainly did not protect them by sending them into an impossible situation. The worst part was that the young soldier and his friend overheard the general call them mule drivers. I think it would have been horrible to know ahead of time that you had no chance at victory. Your self-esteem would be incredibly low knowing that your general thought your regiment had no chance to win and that few of you would survive. Nevertheless, the young soldier and his friend acted bravely and courageously when most others acted cowardly, which greatly surprised me since they were the only two who knew from the beginning that they had no chance at survival.
"Red Badge of Courage"
Chapters 21-24
This final portion of the book presented a fine example of how good thoughts and actions can block out bad thoughts and actions. A regiment of veterans taunts the young soldier’s regiment for fighting so hard. The general ridicules the young soldier’s regiment again when regiment the feels they performed well in the most recent battle. Yet when the young soldier and his friend hear from their fellow soldiers that their lieutenant and the colonel spoke highly of them, both soldiers are in high spirits. They entirely forget their previous unhappiness and feel not only relieved but inspired and rededicated. Another example of this theme of good overcoming bad happened after the last battle described in the novel. The young soldier should have felt happy because his side had won the battle, but he instead was fretting because he was recalling his flight from the first battle. However, when he realized how brave he had been in battle since his first flight, he immediately felt happy and content. The last sentence of this novel was a metaphor for the good overcoming evil theme. The shining sun rays represented the good prevailing and the rain clouds represented the bad. Overall, I thought this novel was decent, but not great.
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