Courage in The Red Badge Of Courage Essay

Courage Essay

Courage wears many different faces. It can be in the form of a desperate last cavalry charge, to pull out a victory from the verge of defeat. It can take the form of a firefighter dashing into an inferno to liberate a child from its clutches. Or maybe its in the form of the boy who attempts to stand up and control his class despite being looked down upon, like Piggy from The Lord of the Flies. I believe that courage shows one of its many faces in each of these moments, not because theyve done something incredible, but because they did it without the intention to improve their own lives, but for others. In my opinion, the true definition of courage, is being able to place anothers needs before your own, and do what you need to do without them. Alvin York, and in the end even Henry Fleming, manage to exemplify courage in their greatest hour.

Alvin York, the protagonist of the movie Sergeant York and an actual person, was a simple farms man, and quite the sharpshooter. An everyday American, but prone to drinking and fighting, until a revelation brought upon by a strike of lightning causes him to turn him into a strict religious follower. He is drafted into basic training, despite his protests. He wants to follow his Christian regime, and not kill, feeling that he shouldnt lose his way after hes gained so much from faith. But there, a commanding officer lectures him, and convinces him through the use of a simple ideal: kill, to save lives. York decides to go to battle, and pulls the incredible feet of capturing over a hundred men, and taking over several machine gun bunkers, practically by himself. This feat, he does not for honor or glory, but in order to hasten the war, and to save the lives of his comrades. This holds the very ideals of courage: he fought for the conservation of lives, and faced incredible odds to do what he thought he had to. He even challenged his religion, to go beyond, to search for a compromise between what he felt he had to do, and what he had to do.

Henry from The Red Badge of Courage joins the army willingly, enticed by all the dashing tails of victory and grandeur in battle. Until the second half of the novel, he only sticks through one fight, only staying because he lost himself and became part of his unit. As the book goes on, Henry passes several turning points, until he reaches his moment of glory. He leads the charge against an enemy regiment, being fired upon and hopelessly outmatched. Despite this, Henry acts as the flag carrier, giving his body which seemed to him a bigger cause then himself, in which he finally is enacting an act of courage, doing things for others, for the bigger picture. Despite the precarious position, Henry survives the charge, and he is able to reflect on his courage, at last fully proud of himself. He regrets his earlier, cowardly actions because he now realizes the true definition of courage, as opposed to the Red Badge he originally thought it was solely represented by.

Through time, both characters come to realize the meaning of courage through their actions in battle. Through reflection, they realize you can not be courageous when fighting for solely yourself, but the strength comes for what you believe in fighting for, whether it be for your country, your family, or simply your love. Much like in real life, there are courageous people everyday acting out different roles, and making a difference at no cost to others.