The Red Badge of Courage 5-3
Posted by: Buzi in: My entries
Modified on November 20, 2005 at 7:16 PM
As the Union troops rest, the fighting deeper in the forest intensifies until the air is parched with smoke and the battle-roar drowns out all other sounds. During a sudden lull in the battle, the men hear one of their comrades, Jimmie Rogers, crying out in pain. Thinking there is a stream nearby, Wilson offers to go for water and Henry accompanies him. They fail to find a stream, but reach a place from which they can see a large portion of the battle as it unfolds. They see dark masses of blue troops slowly gather into formation. They watch as a general nearly tramples a wounded man. As the general and his staff pass by, they hear the commanders discussing how best to fortify a weak position. The general asks one officer which unit he can spare; the officer replies that the only regiment he does not need is the 304th—Henry’s regiment—because its members “fight like a lot ’a mule drivers.” This is terrible for Henry. If i was him i don't know what i would do. I would be terrified and at the same time angry of what his officer told him.
The Red Badge of Courage 5-1After a maddening and intense period of waiting for the inevitable, the enemy sweeps down upon the line of blue-uniformed men. Seized by a feverish hatred of the enemy, Henry fights in a frenzy, firing and reloading and refusing to retreat. In the heat and smoke, he is aware of nothing but his own rage. After a while, he hears one of his comrades laughing and realizes that he is firing at nothing; the battle is over, the enemy has fled. His regiment now regards Henry with awe, regaling him with stories of his ferocious prowess in the combat. The lieutenant tells Henry that if he had ten thousand “wildcats” like him, he could win the war in a week. Strangely, Henry feels as though he himself had nothing to do with his brave exploits; rather, it was as if he fell asleep and woke to find himself a knight. The exultant soldiers congratulate one another happily, and chatter about how many men the enemy lost in the battle. I think it was pretty funny the way henry reacted to the fierce battle.
The Red Badge of Courage 4-3
Henry wakes in the gray, misty dawn, feeling as though he has been “asleep for a thousand years.” In the distance he hears the roar of fighting which rumbles around him with a “deadly persistency.” Looking around at his sleeping comrades, Henry believes for a moment that he is surrounded by dead men and cries out in anguish. When the bugle blows, however, the men get up slowly. Wilson asks Henry how he feels as he tends to his head. “Pretty bad,” Henry replies. As Wilson tends to Henry, Henry notices a change in his friend: he is no longer the loud soldier, that sensitive and prickly youth obsessed with his own sense of valor. Instead, he seems to have acquired a quiet, but remarkable, confidence. The two men discuss the battle, and Henry reports that Jim Conklin is dead. A Group of soldiers exchanges harsh words near Henry and Wilson, nearly coming to blows. Wilson intervenes, keeps the peace, and returns to Henry. He says that the regiment lost more than half of its men the day before, but that many of them have since returned—they scattered in the woods, he reports, and fought with other regiments, just like Henry.
The Red Badge of Courage 3-3
The next thing Henry knows, is that there is a bunch of soldiers amongst him. Many of them running for their lives. Henry tries to stop one of them to see what they were running from but the soldier hit Henry on the head with his rifle. Henry continues running in the direction of the soldiers and one of the soldiers directs Henry to his own regiment. By nightfall, Henry reaches his own regiment. He doesn't know how they will react to him. He is welcomed greatfully by his regiment. They are all glad that he was not killed in action. Anyways, the rest of the soldiers fix up Henry's head wound and one of them gives Henry his sleeping bag for the night. Henry's regiment welcomed him proudly back. I wasn't quite sure what his regiment was going to say or think about him either, but I thought it was awesome how they greeted him with respect. By the way, this is a great book!
The Red Badge of Courage 3-2As Henry is walking by himself he starts thinking about the war, about his regiment, and about himself. He imagines himself going back to fight, even if its not with his own regiment, and becoming a hero. He imagines moving to the front of the line, where the brave fought. He imagines coming out on top, becoming a hero and conquering the enemy as well as his fears of the war. Then, he would doubt himself and relize that he wasn't being realistic. As I read this I started relating it to me. I remember times when I was sitting, laying down, or even playing sports and I would imagine myself become a hero. Whether it was hitting the game shot, or aceing an opponent for the match. I imagine myself doing great things, even other than sports, like becoming successful in my career. And, just like Henry, sometimes i doubt myself and think its not possible; its too far-fetched. But I came to realize that anything is possible, as long as you have the determination, the right positive attitude, and the desire to accomplish your dream.
Sorry about all that, I kinda got off the subject, but I just felt like it would be good for people to read this and realize that no dream is out of reach.
The Red Badge of Courage 3-1Well, Henry is socializing with the other soldiers of the regiment. Henry saw one of the injured soldiers and recognized him to be Jim Conklin, the tall man. He had been shot and was in pretty bad shape. Henry was freaking out about it and trying to help. Then, Jim got up and started running into the fields. I thought it was pretty remarkable that Jim was capable of running even with his severe injuries. Henry and another man went after him. They couldn't believe their eyes, either. Finally, Jim stopped and told Henry to leave him alone. At that instant, Jim died. I thought it was weird what Jim did. It was like he was picking out his own burial place. Anyway, the tattered man that was with Henry started acting crazy and animal-like as Henry put it, so Henry decided to run away. This part of the book was kind of confusing to me so I hope it makes sense to you. See ya in class.
Posted by: Buzi in: My entries
Modified on November 6, 2005 at 8:45 PM