The Red Badge of Courage: Ch. 1-3

Taking place almost a century before the events of Catch-22, those of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, tell the story of a very different type of war. The book, about the Civil war, centers around a young private in a regiment of the Union army named Henry Flemming, who as of the beginning of the book's events, has not yet seen any combat. One of the major themes of the book that is revealed in these first few chapters is glory. In chapter 1, another soldier named Jim Conklin spreads word that the regiment will see battle the next day arousing both excitement and disbelief. Henry hears the conversations and reflects upon the reason why he joined the union army. He desires the glory of battle that the ancient warriors of antiquity achieved through their battle of valor and questions whether it is realistic to expect this kind of honor. He believes that ordinary life has weakened the human instinctual abilities and the only combat can once again bring those skills to the surface. Although he was driven by valor, Henry's mother did not share this sentiment. She believed that her son was too unrealistic, but allowed him to go to battle without worry of coming home.

Since the many months of inaction, Henry has lost many of his ideals about glory. Life seems so monotonous to him that he begins to question his courage. He even wonders if he would desert a battle just to save his own life, something that his mother specifically told him not to do. When the first battle is finally imminent, Henry again questions his courage. Before, he believed that dying honorably as a war hero was the most coveted honor that a man could hope to achieve. However, when death is likely, Henry wavers. Practicality takes over, which forces his courage to stay resolute because Henry realizes that because of so many other soldiers running around him, even if he wanted to save his own life, he would not be able to in the thick of battle.

In chapter 3, Henry seems to share some of Yossarian's sentiments in Catch-22. When the gunfire gets closer, Henry Flemming starts denounce his commanding officers because he believes that they are leading them into inevitable death. In Catch-22, Yossarian seemed to always think of war in this light, but Henry had a very romantic view of fighting before the actual combat began. It will be interesting to see if Henry becomes more like Yossarian as he experiences more of the realities of war (death, carnage, etc.).