Courage vs. Cowardice
In the novella The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane explores a lot of territory involving the subjects that dominate most human conceptions of “War” in his story. In chapters 5-8, we follow Henry as he wins his first fight, and feels like a hero… but as he finds wars are not fought in fights, but in battles.
In the traditional norm, a hero is someone who braves every conflict, who never runs, and fights for what he or she believes in with the full force of their being. Henry of course, falls short of this. While his “red rage” and “acute exasperation of a pestered animal” (33) certainly carries him through the first wave of attack, it falls short when he calms down and the enemy forces attack again. At this he violates another heroic principle “the stoic” as he beginst to run and rationalize himself with thoughts like “He had done a good part in saving himself who was a little piece of the army.” Such acts would not cross the mind of a traditional hero!
However, courage and heroism are subjective, not objective terms. When a little girl faces up to her mean stepfather who in a mature males mind is scrawny, then we can still call that courage, becuase to the little girl, even that scrawny man is a tough opponent. If she is protecting her little brother from the stepfather, then we can call that heroism becuase she is defending something else. Courage is being able to stand up to things that you are scared of, and though you are frightened you punch your way through anyway, and heroism is having the courage to save the things that you hold dear, particularly human life.
I think that the fact that I have read a few Piers Anthony books and delved deep into the question of Heroism after 9/11 have really influenced my thoughts on the matter. Becuase Piers Anthony always includes in his works (though they be pulpish fiction) the idea that a courageous man is one that stands up to fear though he is afraid and a hero is one who works to end the problems that face his ideals. Of course, 9/11 is a terrible event that produced many heros. The firefighters who helped try to calm the blaze that happened after the explosion and even the people on the plane themselves.
Crane is trying to show us that being a hero is something that is subjective by using Henry’s thoughts to show us that he thinks of himself as a practical man for fleeing the battle. The ball that is placed on the words is that he has his animal instincts that rule his fighting, but he has human rationale’s for getting out of there!
April 9th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I totally agree with you on your definition of heroism and how Henry fell short of being a hero. He knew that running away was cowardly, and to preserve his dignity he made excuses that would make himself seem like a hero.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I liked the example you used about the little girl and her “scrawny” stepfather. It is true that standing up like that can be seen as heroism. The fact that you used examples from 9/11 was a good idea too. I’m kind of confused in a way how these actually correlate with what you are trying to say. I’m actually not sure what you are trying to say. In the beginning, you mention how Henry rationalizes running away. In the end, the fact that Henry thinks he is a practical man for running away is true. As I found while reading Brittany’s blog, she talks about how Crane’s characters are just normal human beings; not the stereotypical “heroic” figures. Of course, Henry runs and doesn’t fit the traditional view of a hero.
“he has his animal instincts that rule his fighting, but he has human rationale’s for getting out of there!” When you say this, what are you saying about him? Do you think of him as a hero? As a rational human being? As normal? What are you trying to say?
April 9th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I like your example you used from The Red Badge of Courage to support the fact that Henry is your “traditional hero.” Although I believe him running away made him human. It shows that Henry has fear, and like any human our primary reaction to fear is to run. Although Henry should have stood up to his fears, he was simply afraid; which their isn’t one person who is afraid of something and although you should stand up to choose to back down. So your quote I believe excellently portrays the fact that Henry does not in fact fit one’s stereotypical ideal of a “hero.”
However, I got kind of confused by your two metaphors when relating courage vs. cowardice to a little girl standing up to her stepfather, and the incidents of 9/11. I understand they are examples of heroism, but I don’t quite follow how they correspond to The Red Badge of Courage? Interesting metaphors.