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Flashbacks
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Wilson:
Henry’s journey from youth to manhood is a focal point of The Red Badge of Courage. His friend Wilson, sometimes known as “the loud young soldier,” acts as a foil to Henry as he makes that journey, revealing both Henry’s naivete and his gradual path to maturity.
Henry doesn’t have close friends in the regiment, but Wilson is one of the soldiers with whom he spends the most time. At the beginning of the novel, Wilson is known as “the loud young soldier” for his brash and overconfident nature. Marching towards their first battle, Wilson exults:
This time we’re in for a big battle, and we’ve got the best end of it, certain sure. Gee rod! how we will thump ’em!
Like Henry, he’s excited for battle and has no idea what he’s getting into. In fact, Wilson’s bravado makes him seem even less mature than the novel’s protagonist. During the first battle, Henry loses track of Wilson and flees into the woods out of terror. He spends several hours with a convoy of wounded men, gets clubbed in the head during an altercation with another Union soldier, and witnesses the death of another regiment comrade, Jim. Still, he’s completely preoccupied with his own lack of bravery in battle, and his primary concern is preventing the regiment from finding out that he fled. Battle has traumatized Henry, but it hasn’t caused him to mature.
When Henry finally returns to the regiment, telling his comrades that his head wound came from a Confederate bullet, Wilson cares for him attentively and gives him his own blanket to sleep under. Henry, paranoid that Wilson will find out the real cause of his wound, is repeatedly rude to Wilson. But whereas the other soldier might once have become angry or started a fight, he just brushes off Henry’s comments and assures him that he’ll feel better after eating some “grub.” Wilson’s transformation startles Henry out of his self-pity and causes him to reflect that
He seemed no more to be continually regarding the proportions of his personal prowess. He was not furious at small words that pricked his conceits. He was no more a loud young soldier. There was about him now a fine reliance.
Wilson's new maturity highlights Henry's selfishness and obsession with proving his own bravery, concerns that persist even after his first battle experiences. In other words, while battle has only heightened Henry’s insecurities, Wilson seems to have become a man over the course of one day. Notably, Crane refutes the idea that boys become men through heroism on the battlefield. Wilson doesn’t attain maturity by fighting but rather by learning to care for his friends. Besides emphasizing Henry’s character flaws, Wilson provides an alternate model for manhood.
Henry’s path to maturity, unlike Wilson’s, is long. It’s difficult for him to relinquish his ideas of heroic warfare. But in the final chapter, Henry finally starts to think like Wilson, yearning for "an existence of soft and eternal peace” rather than victory in war. As the two soldiers grow more similar, the reader understands that Henry is now on a better path.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Wilson:
Henry’s journey from youth to manhood is a focal point of The Red Badge of Courage. His friend Wilson, sometimes known as “the loud young soldier,” acts as a foil to Henry as he makes that journey, revealing both Henry’s naivete and his gradual path to maturity.
Henry doesn’t have close friends in the regiment, but Wilson is one of the soldiers with whom he spends the most time. At the beginning of the novel, Wilson is known as “the loud young soldier” for his brash and overconfident nature. Marching towards their first battle, Wilson exults:
This time we’re in for a big battle, and we’ve got the best end of it, certain sure. Gee rod! how we will thump ’em!
Like Henry, he’s excited for battle and has no idea what he’s getting into. In fact, Wilson’s bravado makes him seem even less mature than the novel’s protagonist. During the first battle, Henry loses track of Wilson and flees into the woods out of terror. He spends several hours with a convoy of wounded men, gets clubbed in the head during an altercation with another Union soldier, and witnesses the death of another regiment comrade, Jim. Still, he’s completely preoccupied with his own lack of bravery in battle, and his primary concern is preventing the regiment from finding out that he fled. Battle has traumatized Henry, but it hasn’t caused him to mature.
When Henry finally returns to the regiment, telling his comrades that his head wound came from a Confederate bullet, Wilson cares for him attentively and gives him his own blanket to sleep under. Henry, paranoid that Wilson will find out the real cause of his wound, is repeatedly rude to Wilson. But whereas the other soldier might once have become angry or started a fight, he just brushes off Henry’s comments and assures him that he’ll feel better after eating some “grub.” Wilson’s transformation startles Henry out of his self-pity and causes him to reflect that
He seemed no more to be continually regarding the proportions of his personal prowess. He was not furious at small words that pricked his conceits. He was no more a loud young soldier. There was about him now a fine reliance.
Wilson's new maturity highlights Henry's selfishness and obsession with proving his own bravery, concerns that persist even after his first battle experiences. In other words, while battle has only heightened Henry’s insecurities, Wilson seems to have become a man over the course of one day. Notably, Crane refutes the idea that boys become men through heroism on the battlefield. Wilson doesn’t attain maturity by fighting but rather by learning to care for his friends. Besides emphasizing Henry’s character flaws, Wilson provides an alternate model for manhood.
Henry’s path to maturity, unlike Wilson’s, is long. It’s difficult for him to relinquish his ideas of heroic warfare. But in the final chapter, Henry finally starts to think like Wilson, yearning for "an existence of soft and eternal peace” rather than victory in war. As the two soldiers grow more similar, the reader understands that Henry is now on a better path.
Related Themes:
