The Red Badge of Courage: Ch. 4-7

Henry Fleming gets his first taste of the unpleasant realities of war in these chapters and they are nothing like the glory filled combat that he had expected. During the initial charge of the Confederate troops, Henry feels as though he is part of a machine doing his role in the functioning whole. As he continually shoots and shoots, his pride increases and his fears slowly subside. When the enemy retreats, the union regiment lets out a cheer of victory and Henry seems satisfied that he had retained his courage.

During the second charge, the inner struggle between his courage and fear intensifies. When other in his regiment turn and retreat, Henry does not feel that he is part of a whole again because the whole is losing its parts and his fear gains the upper hand. He too decides to run, a decision that he regrets as soon as the battle is over. As he is running, overwhelming fear takes over and he believes that he will be killed at any moment. His negative sentiment toward his superiors are renewed when he runs past the general directing the battle. Henry is stunned that the Union troops hold off the Confederate attack and immediately questions his actions. Tension builds within him as he tries to comfort himself by unsuccessfully telling himself that an army's best interest is the preservation of its soldier's lives. He is pacified slightly when he throws pine cone at a squirrel causing the animal to hurry away because it shows a natural desire to survive. When Henry sees the body of a dead soldier, his comfort is immediately stripped away and his fear quickly engulfs his mind once again.

These chapters offer insight into the concept of true courage. Henry initially believes that he possessed true courage (before he sees battle), but when he experiences the life-threatening situation, he allows his fear to take over and decides to run away from danger. True courage can thus be defined as the ability to overcome fear and perform an action despite knowledge of the consequences of that action. At this point, Henry still does not possess true courage.