[lit-ideas] Private Fleming: His Various Battles
- From: "" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 29 May 2014 18:17:05 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 5/28/2014 12:40:51 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes in "Falling on the grenade and other
morals":
Stephen Crane, though he never fought in the Civil War, in his The Red
Badge of Courage, is credited with perceptive insight into this matter. The
soldiers believe they “ought” to be brave. If they don’t perform as
commanded in an attack, then they were ashamed of themselves, and if they have
a
chance to redeem themselves by giving their lives in the next charge, they
may do it. Crane’s “coward” turned “hero” didn’t lose his life, but he
was willing to lose it.
Wikipedia entry worth checking out. This note I found of interest:
"Critic William B. Dillingham notes the novel's heroism paradox, especially
in terms of the introspective Henry's lapse into unreasoning self-abandon
in the second half of the book. Dillingham states:
"in order to be courageous, a man in time of
physical strife must abandon the highest of his human facilities, reason
and imagination, and act instinctively, even animalistically."
Cheers,
Speranza
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