As I continued along through chapters 2-4 the action begin to pick up in pace. We see the regiment start to move out and they begin to head into battle. I think it is interesting that the closer they get to fighting, the more regretful and lonely Henry feels. His confidence in himself is nearly gone because he doesn’t think he will be able to remain in the battle and not run. As they continue to march Henry comes across a dead body and begins to realize the reality of the war. This creates an emotional battle between Henry and himself. I believe that we will see this battle between Henry in himself throughout the whole book. Chapter four begins with Henry’s fears nearly coming true. He sees that other soldiers are running away and he fears that he will run too once he sees the enemy.
In chapter five we see the first battle that Henry is involved in. I think it is interesting how Henry feels that he is powerless and is nothing more than another person shooting a gun. He also notices that there are no heroic acts taking place. This shows the reality of the war, that one man alone cannot win it. When the battle is finally over and Henry's regiment wins, he cannot celebrate because he is overwhelmed by the amount of dead soldiers around him. Chapter six opens with Henry feeling great about himself for not running away during the battle. His happy mood is soon crushed when he is told that the enemy is once again coming. As the battle starts he sees many soldiers throwing their guns down and running, so with his fears finally coming true, he too runs. He soon hears that his regiment had held off the enemy and he feels like a coward for running. I think that hearing that his regiment won only made things worse for Henry. His confidence in himself fell greatly and he began to believe his fellow soldiers would disown him for running. Henry heads into the forest to try to comfort himself and get away from the war. This plan is ruined when he comes across a dead corpse whom Henry sees as laughing at him for running. He soons leaves the forest and joins up with the wounded soldiers.
In chapter 9 Henry continues to walk with the injured soldiers feeling guilty and wishing that he too were injured so that he could have a red badge of courage. Suddenly Henry's friend Jim, whom he was walking with, dies. Henry then becomes enraged and yells "Hell" at the battlefeild. Henry then meets up with the tattered man. Henry knows the man is about to die so he runs away, two young to be able to take in the deaths of two freinds. As he runs he sees that he is headed straight towards a battle. Once again he feels guilty and he hopes that the enemies win so he has an excuse for running. In chapter 12 Henry is trying to get information from the soldiers who are running away. One of them hits him on the head with a rifle nearly causing Henry to faint. This hit in the head does two things for Henry. First it makes him a wounded soldier thus giving him the red badge of courage. Secondly, it helps turn his attitude around. He still feels guilty for running, but he feels less ashamed now because he is injured. At the end of the chapter a soldier helps Henry walk for a little and then leaves him, without Henry ever seeing his face.
In chapter 13 we see Henry meet back up with his regiment. He tells them he has been shot in the head and he no longer feels lonely because of his "red badge of courage". Chapter 14 was a rather boring chapter to read. Not much happened except for Henry talking to one of his comrades. The only important thing I noticed from this chapter was that Henry now seems more confident in himself and he didn't feel guilty about running away. Chapter 15 was a very strange chapter. We see Henry becoming almost boastful and arrogent with himself. This is because nobody saw him run so he is now able to make up stories of what happened during the war. Because of his denial, I think that by the end of the book Henry won't be able to tell the difference between reality and what he made up. In chapter 16 we see Henry's regiment start to march to another battle. Henry and the other soldiers complian about how poorly the generals do their jobs and that they don't care abou the soldiers as individuals. The general soon tells them to shutup and the chapter ends with the battle coming in their direction and the author says "They stood as men tied to stakes.", meaning they had to stand their ground because they were told to do so.
At the beginning of chapter 17 we see that Henry is outraged at the enemy and he hates them for not backing down. As the battle is taking place Henry basically loses control of himself. He becomes like a beast and when the enemy retreats he keeps charging forward shooting. In chapter 18 Henry and his comrade go out to try and find water for the regiment. On their way they overhear some generals talking about the next battle and how most of the soldiers are going to die. This shocks Henry that the generals would have no respect for the soldiers lives and that he talked about them as if they were numbers. I think that the author did a nice job here of bringing out the reality of the war, that individuals are not important but are looked at more as just a number. Soon Henry enters this battle because of his speed he and his friend begin advancing on the enemy. When the flag carrier dies, Henry picks it up and continues on. He is a new man, braver and almost in a leadership position because he urges his fellow soldiers to keep fighting. Eventually they retreat, but they knew they had fought a good fight.
Chapter 21 began with the soldiers heading into their final battle. They were feeling good about themselves and how well they had fought until a general started taunting them. This hurt the soldiers because they had fought hard and given it their all. Soon Henry and his regiment are at the top of a hill watching the enemy come out of the woods and begin to fight. As Henry stands watching the fight, he sees his regiment getting smaller very quickly. In chapter 23 we see Henry and his regiment in their final charge. They know that if they don't do somthing drastic that they will all die where they stand. As they all charge, suprisingly they are enthusiastic and they fight as hard as they can. Henry and his friend charge forward and grab the enemy flag and the battle is over with a victory for Henry and his regiment. When the battle is all over Henry reflects on the war and how it has changed him so much. Coming into the war he wanted to be a hero, but now that it was all over he was greatful and accepting that there was a higher power that controlled the outcome of the war. I think that the author did a nice job of showing the reality of war and how it can very easily change people.
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.
6 comments:
The Red Badge of Courage Ch. 2-4
As I continued along through chapters 2-4 the action begin to pick up in pace. We see the regiment start to move out and they begin to head into battle. I think it is interesting that the closer they get to fighting, the more regretful and lonely Henry feels. His confidence in himself is nearly gone because he doesn’t think he will be able to remain in the battle and not run. As they continue to march Henry comes across a dead body and begins to realize the reality of the war. This creates an emotional battle between Henry and himself. I believe that we will see this battle between Henry in himself throughout the whole book. Chapter four begins with Henry’s fears nearly coming true. He sees that other soldiers are running away and he fears that he will run too once he sees the enemy.
The Red Badge of Courage Ch. 5-8
In chapter five we see the first battle that Henry is involved in. I think it is interesting how Henry feels that he is powerless and is nothing more than another person shooting a gun. He also notices that there are no heroic acts taking place. This shows the reality of the war, that one man alone cannot win it. When the battle is finally over and Henry's regiment wins, he cannot celebrate because he is overwhelmed by the amount of dead soldiers around him. Chapter six opens with Henry feeling great about himself for not running away during the battle. His happy mood is soon crushed when he is told that the enemy is once again coming. As the battle starts he sees many soldiers throwing their guns down and running, so with his fears finally coming true, he too runs. He soon hears that his regiment had held off the enemy and he feels like a coward for running. I think that hearing that his regiment won only made things worse for Henry. His confidence in himself fell greatly and he began to believe his fellow soldiers would disown him for running. Henry heads into the forest to try to comfort himself and get away from the war. This plan is ruined when he comes across a dead corpse whom Henry sees as laughing at him for running. He soons leaves the forest and joins up with the wounded soldiers.
The Red Badge of Courage Ch. 9-12
In chapter 9 Henry continues to walk with the injured soldiers feeling guilty and wishing that he too were injured so that he could have a red badge of courage. Suddenly Henry's friend Jim, whom he was walking with, dies. Henry then becomes enraged and yells "Hell" at the battlefeild. Henry then meets up with the tattered man. Henry knows the man is about to die so he runs away, two young to be able to take in the deaths of two freinds. As he runs he sees that he is headed straight towards a battle. Once again he feels guilty and he hopes that the enemies win so he has an excuse for running. In chapter 12 Henry is trying to get information from the soldiers who are running away. One of them hits him on the head with a rifle nearly causing Henry to faint. This hit in the head does two things for Henry. First it makes him a wounded soldier thus giving him the red badge of courage. Secondly, it helps turn his attitude around. He still feels guilty for running, but he feels less ashamed now because he is injured. At the end of the chapter a soldier helps Henry walk for a little and then leaves him, without Henry ever seeing his face.
The Red Badge of Courage Ch. 13-16
In chapter 13 we see Henry meet back up with his regiment. He tells them he has been shot in the head and he no longer feels lonely because of his "red badge of courage". Chapter 14 was a rather boring chapter to read. Not much happened except for Henry talking to one of his comrades. The only important thing I noticed from this chapter was that Henry now seems more confident in himself and he didn't feel guilty about running away. Chapter 15 was a very strange chapter. We see Henry becoming almost boastful and arrogent with himself. This is because nobody saw him run so he is now able to make up stories of what happened during the war. Because of his denial, I think that by the end of the book Henry won't be able to tell the difference between reality and what he made up. In chapter 16 we see Henry's regiment start to march to another battle. Henry and the other soldiers complian about how poorly the generals do their jobs and that they don't care abou the soldiers as individuals. The general soon tells them to shutup and the chapter ends with the battle coming in their direction and the author says "They stood as men tied to stakes.", meaning they had to stand their ground because they were told to do so.
The Red Badge of Courage Ch. 17-20
At the beginning of chapter 17 we see that Henry is outraged at the enemy and he hates them for not backing down. As the battle is taking place Henry basically loses control of himself. He becomes like a beast and when the enemy retreats he keeps charging forward shooting. In chapter 18 Henry and his comrade go out to try and find water for the regiment. On their way they overhear some generals talking about the next battle and how most of the soldiers are going to die. This shocks Henry that the generals would have no respect for the soldiers lives and that he talked about them as if they were numbers. I think that the author did a nice job here of bringing out the reality of the war, that individuals are not important but are looked at more as just a number. Soon Henry enters this battle because of his speed he and his friend begin advancing on the enemy. When the flag carrier dies, Henry picks it up and continues on. He is a new man, braver and almost in a leadership position because he urges his fellow soldiers to keep fighting. Eventually they retreat, but they knew they had fought a good fight.
The Red Badge of Courage Ch. 21-24
Chapter 21 began with the soldiers heading into their final battle. They were feeling good about themselves and how well they had fought until a general started taunting them. This hurt the soldiers because they had fought hard and given it their all. Soon Henry and his regiment are at the top of a hill watching the enemy come out of the woods and begin to fight. As Henry stands watching the fight, he sees his regiment getting smaller very quickly. In chapter 23 we see Henry and his regiment in their final charge. They know that if they don't do somthing drastic that they will all die where they stand. As they all charge, suprisingly they are enthusiastic and they fight as hard as they can. Henry and his friend charge forward and grab the enemy flag and the battle is over with a victory for Henry and his regiment. When the battle is all over Henry reflects on the war and how it has changed him so much. Coming into the war he wanted to be a hero, but now that it was all over he was greatful and accepting that there was a higher power that controlled the outcome of the war. I think that the author did a nice job of showing the reality of war and how it can very easily change people.
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