Red Badge of Courage - Book Report/Review Example

?CHAPTER 20 The 304th regiment and an approaching enemy are the main characters whose roles are exhibited in this chapter. Fundamentally, the two groups play the usual role of soldiers in a battle and that is, they engage each other in fierce battle. But this battle would be highly significant to the 304th regiment because of earlier incidence. A pronouncement had been made of how weak the 304th regiment was. Because no members of the group except Henry and Wilson heard the conversation, the group was more or less fighting a justification battle of which they were not aware of. If they lost, what was said about them would be presumed to be true but if they win, they have made a good justification of their abilities. The unknown justification battle was the most significant event that affected the story. Initially, the battle was a general one and had not reached the 304th regiment that badly. But with time, the group was met with the battle one on one. In a rather amassing manner, the group fights beyond their personal capabilities to ensure that the enemy group retreat. The whole scenery was as though the group had been prompted of the bad image that had been painted for them. So though the group had been described as weak, they manage to win the battle against the enemy group. Wilson and Henry bore the flag after the flag bearer had fallen. The flag finally came into the possession of Henry even before the 304th regiment was engaged in that fierce battle in which they won. The flag was a major object of symbol to Henry as a character. This is because by bearing the flag, he had more or less become a commander and leader of his regiment. So having heard the conversation that his regiment was useless, Henry played his commanding role so well to ensure that the thoughts about them were overturned. The lesson here is that with determination, it is possible to overturn the mentality of people about a person or a group. CHAPTER 21 The officer who called the men mule drivers resurfaces after the enemy could not stand the force of the 304th regiment and thus retreated. But the role the officer comes to play is not one that would please the 304th regiment in anyway. This is because he comes to ridicule them and insult them openly. The officer describes their battle as pitiful and actually describes them as mud diggers. Though acknowledging that the victory was good, the officer was just not pleased with the fact that the victory had to take so long in coming. The entire regiment was hearing of the officer’s accusations about them for the first time. This means that Henry and Wilson did not even have to tell the group about what they heard the officer say any longer. This is because they had heard a different form of that by themselves. But the communication between the officer and the regiment was an event that really affected the story. This is because the group came to terms with the fact that their regiment was simply not liked by the officer. The reason for this resolution is that the group knew for sure that they had done well. For another person to therefore come and insult their efforts meant that that person only had hatred for them. A thought that influenced Wilson and Henry so much as characters has to do with the fact that some members of the group had heard the same officer who described the 304th regiment as mud diggers praise Wilson and Henry as the best soldiers in that regiment. This gave the two beneficiaries a lot of inner joy and a moment of satisfaction. But did they have to show their pride when the other members had been accused wrongly? Henry and Wilson therefore pretended that they had not heard the good news at all. CHAPTER 22 A non-inspirational 304th regiment happens to be the major character in this chapter. The regiment had been faced with another battle, which they had to face squarely. At the beginning of the battle, Henry and Wilson were entering with a sense of pride over the commitments made about their abilities. Meanwhile, the entire group had a point to proof to the officer who had called them mud diggers that they were not cowards. Unlike the first insult, the regiment was aware of the second insult and so was no longer into an unknown justification battle but a conscious one. This battle did not come as a good event for the 304th regiment. The battle was simply not good for any of them including Henry. This is because having heard someone insult them as pitiful and mud diggers, the regiment was only expecting to put up a highly justifying battle to shame their enemy. Meanwhile, there was every event that the battle was getting out of hand for them. Many of them were hit dead as others fled. To Henry, it was a moment for him to justify the comment made about his superb ability. But he did not get the needed support from the weakening regiment. He however does well to live up to his pledge not to retreat from the battlefield. A thought of teamwork proofs to be very outstanding in this part of the story. This is because even though Henry was doing so much to justify his boldness on the battlefield, it became very evident that he could not win a battle singlehandedly. With time, Henry himself acknowledged that his strength was running out in him. Though his good friend Wilson and the lieutenant were not hurt, many of their other colleagues had suffered gun wounds. This gives a very strong lesson that in unity lies strength. For a very resounding victory, a person must always have the support of other people. CHAPTER 23 Getting to its conclusion, much of the story becomes centered on the enemy’s standard bearer as the newly introduced character. The role of this character as a flag bearer becomes short lived. This is because the fierceness of the battle with the regiment of which Henry and Wilson were pat makes him fall as a dying hero. If for nothing at all, he did not flee the battlefield but stood his grounds till he could not contain it any longer. Unfortunately for the standard bearer, the flag he was bearing would be lost not to another person on his side but to members of the 304th regiment whom he was battling against. The major event in the story at this point is centered on the battle, which ended in very for Henry and his people. Particularly for Wilson, the battle was to be a very memorable one because he could grab the flag of the enemy team. Just before this battle, the regiment had been involved in a serious of deaths and casualties that signified an approaching doom for them. However, with a spirited heart, the regiment will finish everything laughing last. This indeed confirms the saying that he who laughs last laughs best. The most influential object in this chapter of the book was the flag of the enemy group. In military combats, there exists a long standing myth that capturing the flag of the enemy team signals an approaching victory. It is for this reason that when Henry and Wilson saw the standard bearer of the enemy group dying, they rushed to get the flag from him. Wilson was luckier to have grabbed the flag. For Wilson to have grabbed the flag was not very surprising because unlike most of his colleagues, Wilson had not been hurt in anyway and so was very fit for the struggle for the flag. CHAPTER 24 The entire army that went into the battle is featured as characters in the final chapter of the book. The battle had ended and so it was time for the group to march back. Clearly, there could not be anything more left than for these people to talk and chat among themselves with so much joy and pride over their achievement. To most of them who were returning from the battle, barely did they think of coming home alive. Wilson is one of such people as he had earlier admitted he was going to die. As it was all ending, Henry could not do much than to take a reflection of his personality and his role in the whole battle. It was a moment of mixed feeling for Henry. This is because he had been both a good person and a bad person. Initially, he ran away from the battle. This was perhaps to save his soul for his mother. But when he later gathered courage to be part of the battle, he was declared one of the two best soldiers in his regiment. He was therefore counting his rights and wrongs. As Henry continued to count his rights and wrongs, he was met with a very symbolic object and that was the rains that came down. As the rains poured on him, he symbolized it for a moment of washing away his cowardice and fears. Henry could therefore solve to put his weaknesses behind him and focus on his strengths. The lesson here is that it is indeed true that the end justifies the means. Again, it is always positive to see the cup as half full than seeing it as half empty. This is because when seen as half full, there is always the hope of filling it up in no time. CITED WORKS Crane, Stephen. Red Badge of Courage. Spark Notes. 2012. Web. April 19, 2012 Read More