Quiz 2 (RBoC)

Even at the very beginning, Henry was viewed as the young, uneducated one ever ready to learn from his peers and know what they know.

"There was a youthful private who listened with eager ears to the words of the tall soldier and to the varied comments of his comrades." (Chapter 1)

"He felt a quiet manhood, non assertive but of sturdy and strong blood.....He was a man." (Chapter 24)

Now Henry is confident and considers himself a man.

_____________________________________________________________

Wilson was the loud private because he always needed to put his word in, or get the opposing side in. Wilson was a man of words.

Finally he said: "Well, you don't know everything in the world, do you?" (Chapter 1)

"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." (Chapter 14)

Wilson now is a mature man, knowing that his fellow comrades died where he did not. Even after the first battle, Henry notices that there are drastic changes in Wilson's character, and they are for the good.

Chapter 24 (RBoC)

Now that the battle and the war are over, Henry and Wilson wonder what now? They head back to the river with everyone else and see the end result of everything like the wounded and the other worn out soldiers. On the way back Henry looks inside himself and notices that he has changed. He regrets running from that first battle, but he feels that he can move on and not forget it, but learn from it. He thinks in his head that he is good now. The deeds that his friends and comrades saw made him a better person. Henry does however, feel a twinge of guilt for the tattered soldier, for he left him in the field by himself when he helped Henry move Jim. Henry thinks that his comrades can read his failure on his face, but no one is paying attention to him. Everyone is going over the battle with each other. Henry realizes that he can put the tattered soldier behind him, and get over his sins from the first battle. He is a man now. The sun then shines with big puffy clouds after raining a little.



Response- The end. Henry has an ego, but he has to deal with guilt just like everyone else. He is a real person, and even though he sometimes is selfish, he matured a lot in the last half of the book.

Themes-

*Manhood~ I think Henry has finally achieved this, for he put his sins behind him and got over everything, but not without feeling guilty first. Like every other human.

Motifs-

*Youth and maturity~ Compared to the 1st chapter, not only has Henry Fleming matured greatly, but Wilson as well. Good for them!

Question- IS THE LIEUTENANT ALIVE? It isn't answered! Ahh!

Chapter 23 (RBoC)

Some officers tell the soldiers that they must charge the rebel army to get anywhere and they do it with great energy. Henry keeps the flag in the front and urges on the men to run and fight. Henry felt like a mad man, running, but felt good. During their charge, the confederate army turned and ran, not giving the union army the satisfaction of charging them, and randomly turning back to shoot and continue running. But there was one group of rebels that stayed to fight, a group with their flag. Henry focuses on the soldier with the confederate flag. Henry's buddies shoot at the enemy and hit the flag-bearer. Henry is happy and goes to get it, but that flag-bearer knows his purpose and clutches it while trying to retreat. Wilson jumps over the fence and rips the flag from that guy's hands. There are four POWs and one was shot in the foot. The four prisoners all had different reactions to being a prisoner.
Everyone is congratulating each other and rejoicing!

Response- Glad to see that Henry did something... haha. I wonder if the POWs will end up getting killed. Good for Wilson for getting the rebel flag! He beat Henry. HA.

Question- Did the lieutenant make it?!?!?!

Chapter 22 (RBoC)

Henry's self-confidence is huge at the beginning of the chapter, especially since he can just stand there and watch the battle for a while. While looking around, Henry notices to one side that a couple of regiments are fighting like the rest of the war doesn't matter, and their battle is most important. To the other side Henry sees a brigade of soldiers running the enemy out of the forest. All of the men on the battlefields were fighting intensely, but after a few minutes, the Union was winning. Suddenly fighting breaks out near the wood and the upper-hand in the battle keeps going back and forth. Once the fight reached Henry's regiment, they unleashed their fury on them. Still Henry isn't fighting, just watching... but he doesn't feel like he's useless. The enemy was getting dangerously close, but the regiment took care of them and sent them back to the fence area where they came from. Everyone in the regiment wants to keep the ground because they were called mule-drivers.
Henry thinks that his dead body on the battlefield would be the ultimate revenge to the general who called them mule-drivers and mud-diggers. Henry notices that the regiment is getting smaller and smaller but also sees that Wilson and the lieutenant are still alive.

Response- Pretty vivid battle. I could picture it easily, so it was good. Henry does need to fight though, if he notices that the regiment is way small now! duh!

Question- It said that the lieutenant was swearing like it was his last ones, does that mean the battle is almost over or he is going to die?

Chapter 21 (RBoC)

Chapter 21 opens with the regiment almost thinking that it's too good to be true, having a pause in the fight, and actually having an advantage? Hasn't happened for them in a while. Some random soldier wanted to fist-fight, and it brought Henry's attention to the mockers. He turns around and sees that the distance that looked so huge to him earlier, was hardly anything. Henry almost looks at the dead soldiers with contempt for dying in that short distance. The young soldier then starts to reflect upon his actions and give himself praise. Then the officer who called them mule-drivers rides up to Henry's regiment. The general is yelling at the commander, telling him that they basically failed. The lieutenant of course was enraged when hearing this, but the colonel who was yelled at told him not to worry about it.
Wilson walks over to Henry and they both tell each other that they don't like the commanding officers and that they want to tell them that they can fight for themselves. While having this discussion, some random soldier runs over to them and tells them that the colonel asked about Henry and the lieutenant told him about Wilson and Henry, and that they should be major-generals! No matter what that general said, it was forgotten by Henry and Wilson.

Response- I'm liking that colonel more and more already. And that one general is just an arrogant prick to be honest. This chapter was interesting, since Henry and Wilson were fluffing each other's egos... a lot.

Question- Will that general get what he deserves?

Chapter 20 (RBoC)

This chapter starts with basically the rest of the regiment running away and getting yelled at by other officers. Henry and Wilson fight over carrying the flag. Henry wins that little tift. The charge stopped for a second, with Henry's regiment realizing that they are most likely going to die. Henry tries to see if he can find the officer who called him mule-drivers, (aka SLOW) and realized that he wants revenge and hates him more than the enemy.
Henry tries to pump up his fellow soldiers, but the regiment was too weary. Right away the enemy is close to them! Soldiers keep trying to run away, and Henry is worn out, Wilson says it's the end and Henry won't admit it. Henry notices the lieutenant standing with his feet apart and not swearing in the middle of the battle. The lieutenant then points out that the enemy is upon them. The confederates seemed to look new to Henry, and clean. They also weren't ready for the regiment's fire! The Union soldiers kept on firing and fighting and when the smoke cleared away, they saw that there were more rebels dead. Their confidence was renewed!!

Response- They charged for a really long time. Wow. I'm glad that Henry's regiment is getting some glory... they aren't mule-drivers now, are they?

Motifs-

*Clean and dirty~ At the end of the chapter, the rebel army is clean and not doing so well. Henry's side is dirty, worn-out, and doing well. It also hinted my thinking in the last sentence, "And they were men."

Question- How many of the regiment will be left by the time this is over?

Chapter 19 (RBoC)

Henry is disoriented at the beginning of the charge, but then gets over it. The narrator describes Henry to look like an insane soldier during the charge. Without knowing it, Henry is in the front of the charge and a lot of soldiers are getting killed. While running towards the enemy Henry seemed to notice everything and understand, except why he was involved in the charge. People kept dying, and Henry still can't understand why he is there. The pace of the charge is tiring a lot of the soldiers out. Once they are close, they start to slow down and look around and notice that most of their regiment is either injured or dead. The lieutenant bursts on the scene and tells them that they gotta keep going. Then Wilson fired his rifle into the woods and that woke everyone up.
The regiment moved as one single unit, slowing down to reload and find their bearings. They get to the trees, and the lieutenant can't stop swearing. He gets Henry's attention and tells him that they must cross the lot because they can't stay in their current position. Henry sort of challenges the lieutenant to charge and he and Henry charge with Wilson close behind.
While charging, the color sergeant (guy who carries the flag) dies and Wilson takes the flag from him and he and Henry continue charging.

Response- I thought the lieutenant was right next to them.... hmm. I'm proud of Henry for not running in the other direction. As always, GO WILSON!

Symbols-
*The flag~ To Henry, it's a goddess of beauty, fills him with hope, and will hopefully save lives.

Question- How exactly did the lieutenant die?

Chapter 18 (RBoC)

This chapter starts out with the rebels in the distance and the regiment noticing that Jimmie Rogers is hurt. Wilson offers to go get him water and ends up getting it for basically everybody. Henry goes with him. They couldn't find one so they head back, and see in the distance, the battle still raging on. They also see a house and a distant road, and wounded men searching for their friends. On their way back, a general and another officer are riding past them and talk about the enemy charging somewhere and they are arguing what they are going to do when the other officer tells the general they can spare the 304th division... Henry's division. Henry and Wilson rush back to tell the lieutenant that they are charging. The regiment didn't believe them, and then the two officers rode up to them, told them they were charging and that was the end of it for the rest of the regiment. Only Henry and Wilson knew that overhearing the discussion of the two officers, that those officers think of them as insignificant and they don't expect them to live.

Response- I wonder what is honestly going through Henry and Wilson's minds. I would most definitely not want to hear my commanding officer tell someone else that I am insignificant!

Motif-
*Clean and dirty~ When the army is having self-doubts and hesitant, they are clean. When they are done with fighting and calm from the battle, they are dirty. The dirtyness adds some manhood to the soldiers, I think.

Question- What is going to happen to Jimmie Rogers?

Chapter 17 (RBoC)

This chapter starts out with Henry thinking that because he had thinking time yesterday, the battle should stop and let him. Henry tells Wilson that he probably can't stand too much of the rebel army, and Wilson just calmly replies. The young soldier thinks that his army should have more power than they actually do so they can prove themselves.
Once the battle actually begins, Henry seems to lose it. He wants to injure them all and just straight up attack them. He loses all sense of direction and fights hard and quick, withstanding things he normally wouldn't. When the rebel army fled, Henry didn't notice that they were gone and the rest of his regiment just watched him with some awe. He lays on the ground in a sort of trance and the lieutenant complimented Henry on being an amazing fighter. Everyone is shocked sort of and Wilson asks Henry if he is alright. The lieutenant is having kittens about Henry being such a good fighter and everyone is happy.

Response- Who knew Henry had it in him? I did NOT understand the saying about beating dogs, women, and walnut trees though.

Theme-
*Manhood~ I'm pretty sure Henry has achieved a small part of manhood by fighting like he did.

Question- Now that Henry fought amazingly once, is he going run away ever?

Chapter 16 (RBoC)

Henry's regiment gets to the battle and relieves another regiment in a trench. Everyone is getting ready to shoot and the canons are thundering. Henry wishes that he could break the silence with a joke or something, but the cannons are too loud. A rumor starts to spread that they aren't doing so well. So they end up going back to camp, since they got "licked." Henry can't believe it however, and Wilson seems to be in a mood. When the young soldier is demanding a reason, the way he says something makes it seem like he actually fought and he thought someone would ridicule him for it. Wilson just thinks that they don't have any luck. A sarcastic soldier buds in to their conversation and asks Henry if he thinks he fought the whole battle himself yesterday, and Henry freaks out inside. That sarcastic man might know that he ran away! (hahaha, get what you deserve.) He didn't know about it, but it still shut Henry up.
Once they got to a clearing, everyone teamed up with their regiments or brigades and turned toward the confederates. The Lieutenant of Henry's regiment thinks that the enemy would fight every minute the sun is up if possible. The army gets ready for the enemy and all Henry can say is that the Union army are a bunch of cowards because they just get shot around and beaten all of the time. Wilson stays optimistic and tells him it will turn out right in the end.
The Lieutenant then yells at the regiment since they sound like a bunch of hens and are jackasses for verbally fighting instead of thinking about the battle ahead.
The sun comes out and Henry gets ready to meet the enemy head on before the tempest. The rebel army comes out of the forest and the whole regiment has a mini hesitation, where Henry describes it as men being tied to the stake.

Response- Since when is Henry so into the battles? He seems to still be full of himself, and also wonder what was up with Wilson, falling asleep before they retreated. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of a battle field, no matter how tired I am.

Question- Why is Wilson never talking anymore? I know he matured a little, but still...

Chapter 15 (RBoC)

This chapter starts out with Henry realizing that he has Wilson's yellow envelope and tries to get his attention. When Henry said Wilson's name, Wilson was staring down the road looking sullen, and Henry decides to change his mind and not bring it up. Henry thinks that now he is superior to Wilson sense he has his envelope. Henry's confidence is renewed, and he thinks that sense no one knows of his running away, he could be considered a man still. [Yeah right.] Henry thinks that he is fully prepared for the battle coming up and thinks that he ran away with dignity while the others ran with terror and are weak. He refers to them as mortals. Henry is ripped from these thoughts however, from Wilson, asking for his letters back with embarrassment. Henry hands them over slowly, because he is trying to think of a way to embarrass him further. He doesn't embarrass him, and thinks that because he didn't, he is a true man. Henry thinks about when he goes home and how he will entertain his mother and this girl with stories from war. The chapter ends with Henry thinking this.

Response- Henry really needs to get over himself. His confidence is fake, and will most likely falter.

Question- What is in Wilson's letters?

Chapter 14 (RBoC)

Henry wakes up, feeling he was sleeping for a long time. He looks around and in the grayness of dawn, every one looks dead. The young soldier is frightened for a second, but then realizes that it's his imagination and everyone is fine. Wilson comes over to Henry and checks up on his head, and Henry yells at him, saying that he is clumsy. Wilson doesn't take it personal and tells Henry to get something to eat. The loud soldier prepares something to eat for Henry and himself while Henry assesses Wilson, noticing the small changes in his character that makes him more mature; confidence, not debating everyone's opinion, and his will to help Henry. Henry is taken out of his "trance" by Wilson asking Henry what he thinks the chances of winning are. They start talking about the battle, and Wilson thinks that they did well, while Henry says otherwise. Randomly, Henry tells Wilson that Jim is dead. When they were talking, the men at the fire next to them started fighting about spilled coffee and Wilson goes over to calm the fight. When Wilson returns, he tells Henry that Jimmie Rogers told him he has to fight him. Wilson doesn't think Jimmie will remember, and randomly tells Henry that they thought they lost half of the regiment yesterday, but soldiers kept coming back like Henry last night. The chapter ends with Henry saying, "So?" to Wilson about this subject.

Response- With Henry back in the army, I can't help but wonder if he is actually going to stay and fight the next time or if he is just going to run again. Wilson seems to be way more mature than he was two days ago. Good for Wilson!!!!!

Theme-
*Manhood~ Because he fought in the battle continuously, Wilson has achieved manhood and Henry thinks he looks like he has a lot of wisdom.

Motif-
*Youth and Maturity~ Wilson seems to be more mature after staying in the battle, I would consider Henry to still be immature, since he ran away.

Question- Is Henry even going to tell Wilson the truth?

Chapter 13 (RBoC)

Once his helper leaves, Henry slowly makes his way to the fire. Even though he wants to hide, Henry's need for food and rest over powers his feeling that he needs to run.
He sees bodies sleeping by the fire and is stopped by a man... who is WILSON. Henry tells Wilson that he got separated from the regiment and was on the right side of the battle and got shot in the head. A corporal named Simpson makes his way over and tells Henry the regiment lost 42 men, but men keep showing up randomly, like Henry. Simpson takes Henry to the fire and tells Henry his head stopped bleeding and it's just going to swell a lot and it will hurt. (Duh.) Henry glances around the fire seeing everyone is exhausted. Wilson comes with the coffee that Henry chugs down and puts a wet handkerchief on his wound. Then Wilson helps Henry up and moves him to a place where he can sleep. Henry gets comfortable but realizes he is sleeping where Wilson was supposed to and asked Wilson where he is going to sleep, and Wilson tells him to shut up and sleep. Henry obeys, and falls asleep.

Response- Simpson was spot on about Henry's wound, and just passes it off as getting shot. How can you make that mistake?! He wasn't shot! That little liar... humph.

Question- I wonder if anyone is going to notice that he wasn't shot, just hit?

Chapter 12 (RBoC)

Once Henry finds the infantry men, he is shocked to see that they are losing horribly, and they are running back to retreat. While trying to get the retreating soldiers attention, Henry gets hold of some soldier's arm. The young soldier can't form a question in his mind, all he can say is "Why..." while the soldier Henry grabbed screams at him to let him go, he hits Henry in the head with his rifle! Henry sinks to the ground, and battles with his muscles to be able to move. He tries to find a place where he won't be treaded on, which reminds him of Jim. He runs as fast as his weak body will take him and the sun slowly starts to set. Henry concentrates on not damaging his wound anymore than it already is, and is sort of consumed by thinking about it. Then he starts to remember random things about home, and is growing more and more weary. When thinking about if he should lay down and sleep, a man confronts Henry and starts telling him random things about the battle, and helps him. Henry describes his voice as cheery, and listens to everything he has to say. That cheery voiced soldier tells Henry of his friend named Jack who got shot in the head.
They get to the camp trying to find their regiment's different fires, and the cheery voice soldier finds Henry's for him with ease. He points Henry towards it, squeezes his hand while telling him goodbye, and leaves. After he leaves it occurs to Henry that he never looked at his face.

Response- Finally!!! Henry is in the camp, and that cheery soldier was kinda creepy, but great because Henry is in the camp. No running now Henry. haha.

Question- Will we see this cheery voiced soldier again?

Chapter 11 (RBoC)

When Henry is walking away from the tattered soldier, he hears a lot of noise, and goes to investigate it. He sees what looks to him as the whole army on the road. The young soldier is relieved, since it looks like everyone else is retreating. The infantry then comes, and Henry describes them as looking like a massive serpent, the front line proud with the knowledge that they did what was important. The youth is heart-broken with the thought of never being able to be like them, since he ran away.
The infantry keeps marching, and he tries to think what they ate that makes them want to hurry to battle. Henry realizes that they are heroes, without a doubt, and can sleep at night knowing they do what's right. He wants that, to be able to fight at the right time, and have others look up to him. So Henry debates going back, risking being made fun of among other things. But he just continues walking along side of them, noticing that he is very hungry, and hurts everywhere.
He continues on the trek of self-hatred and following the army, because he wishes to know the outcome. Debating within himself still, he tries to think of excuses for running. Again. Not being able to come up with any good ones, he envies the dead again.
Deciding to go back to the soldiers, Henry can't think of a good explanation of where he was. He also imagines him going into the camp and all of his old buddies making fun of him.

Response- To be honest, Henry makes me frustrated. He just needs to jump right into them and tell the truth to get over it, instead of beating himself up for it!

Question- How much longer am I going to read about Henry hating himself? : )

Quiz 1 (RBoC)

1. What does the title of this book mean? Be specific in your response, noting Henry's comments.

• The title means you are wounded in battle, and it represents you not leaving your post and taking what the war could do to you without complaining.

2. What is the importance of the tattered man? What does he represent?

• The tattered man's reaction to the battle represents what (Henry thinks) the whole army will think about the other soldiers. It was great that everyone stayed, and the army can't dream of what possessed some of the young men (aka Henry) to make them run away from their post.
  

3. What role does Henry's mother play while he is away from her?

• Henry's mother is Henry's memory of home, and the only one that is mentioned to have importance to him. Her mindset about the war represents the other side Henry doesn't think of.

4. How does Henry use the squirrel to justify his actions?

• Henry throws a pine cone at a squirrel in the forest and the squirrel dashes up a tree. He does this to show that if a normal being senses danger, they should run for safety.

Chapter 10 (RBoC)

With Jim Dead, Henry starts to brood and the tattered man takes it upon himself to try to cheer him up. He tells Henry that he needs to move on and Jim should be fine, where he died. He also can't believe where he got his strength from.

" 'I wonner where he got 'is stren'th from? I never seen a man do like that before. It was a funny thing. Well, he was a reg'lar jim-dandy.' "

They walk away from Jim wondering where he came from, and the tattered man gets Henry's attention to tell him he doesn't feel well. When Henry thinks the tattered man is about to die, he's scared to see another death that day. But the tattered soldier tells him he isn't going to die yet, because he has kids at home he has to get back to. Then the tattered soldier begins to tell Henry how he got injured during the battle (shot in the head and arm) and says if Tom Jamsion didn't tell him he was shot, he would most likely still be fighting now.
The tattered soldier then proceeds to ask Henry if he is alright, because he doesn't look to well. He also tells Henry that once one of his buddies got hit in the head and that soldier said he didn't hurt anywhere, but then he died. Henry, being the man he is, turns away from him and then the tattered soldier starts to act like Jim: his speech being slurred and repeating things. He also starts to call Henry Tom Jamsion.
Henry is enraged by everything the tattered soldier told him and envies the dead. Henry is deeply affected by the tattered soldiers comments and also doesn't think he will ever recover.

Response- I think Henry needed to hear what the tattered soldier has to say. He keeps telling Henry what he doesn't want to hear. It's the bitter truth, and Henry can't run away from it. I also think that Henry is displaying a lot of cowardice.

Themes-
*Manhood~ Henry is most definitely not showing growth in being a man... he has stepped back to childhood.

Motifs-
*Youth and Maturity~ In this chapter the tattered soldier represents what being mature is, living with the truth. Henry is youthful, and can't accept reality. That is why I think Stephen Crane keeps referring to Henry as "the youth."

Question- When is Henry going to get off his high horse of ignorance, and face the music?

Chapter 9 (RBoC)

Henry is worried about what the tattered soldier said and he wished he was wounded, because they look a load happier then he is.

He wishes he could also have a red badge of courage.

While thinking this, Henry notices a wounded soldier attracting attention, since he looks close to death. The young soldier approaches the wounded soldier and finds out that it is Jim Conklin! Jim asks where Henry was, but he can't answer since he's shocked Jim got shot. Henry offers assistance, but Jim firmly refuses until a wave of pain hits him. At this point, Jim admits to Henry one of his worst fears in battle: That the people operating the cannons will just roll them over him like he doesn't matter. The young soldier replies that he will take care of him. Then Jim gets desperate, begging Henry to tell him he was a good friend, and asks him if he would make sure his body was moved past the road. But when Henry can't speak because of shock, Jim turns away and tells him to leave him alone.

[seriously. ongoing battle between the two of them!!]

The tattered soldier appears at Henry's side and advises him to help Jim because in five minutes he'll be gone. The young soldier hurries to get to Jim and help, but Jim is so out of it, he starts running into the fields. Henry tries to reason with him, but Jim rejects him again and turns away. Henry and the tattered soldier follow him.
All of a sudden Jim stops and doesn't move, Henry calls to him, and Jim starts to shake violently and all Henry and the tattered soldier can do is watch. Jim's body straightens to full height, and then he falls over. DEAD. Henry rushes to his body to see that his side looked like it was "chewed by wolves."
The sun sets red.

Symbol-
*The setting sun~ People believe when a lot of blood is shed during the day, the sun sets/rises the next morning red. (can't remember which...lol)

Question- If Jim's dead face looked like he was about to laugh when he died, what was he thinking about?

Chapter 8 (RBoC)

When walking out of the forest, the young soldier hears the sounds of battle and makes his way towards it. He thinks its funny that he's heading towards a battle when he just ran away from one. It then occurs to Henry that what he fought in might have only been a small battle and people will think of it as insignificant, even though he and his buddies took it so seriously.
Approaching the battle he runs into "dead man's territory" and is scared that they are going to get up and shoo him away.
He gets to where all of the wounded are and sees a lot of men. Meets the tattered soldier, who has two wounds and seems to aggravate Henry. He talks about how those young boys were great fighters and proved themselves because they didn't run away. The tattered soldier then asks Henry were he is injured and because he doesn't know what to say, Henry just turns and walks away.

[Meets the tattered soldier]

Question- Why didn't anyone else notice Henry wasn't injured?

Chapter 7 (RBoC)

Once the battle is ended for real, Henry thinks the soldiers who didn't flee have betrayed him and are stupid because they didn't try to save themselves, therefore saving the army. He thinks because he is smarter and less ignorant, him running away was what was best for the army. But since they held the line and won, which was supposed to be impossible, they all betrayed him.
So he started to feel sorry for himself, and walked deeper into the forest, because no one else would be able to understand him and his deep mind. He found peace deep in the woods where he couldn't hear the "roar of death" and picked up a pine cone and threw it at a squirrel. After it scurried up a tree he was satisfied, for nature had just showed him the natural thing to do. When you sense danger, run away... don't stand at it willing to give your life.
Henry walks deeper into the woods, and finds a dead Union soldier covered in ants. The young soldier is in awe of it, and goes closer, even though he screams lightly. He stares into the dead man's eyes, and then turns and runs away. After running a bit, he stops and listens, because he thinks it might shriek after him and attack.

[Finds the dead soldier]

Themes-
*Courage~ For people like Henry, courage comes in bursts, along with intelligence. He's being stupid thinking that everyone is wrong and he's right. He isn't showing courage.

Symbols-
*The Dead Soldier~ This sort of symbolizes what Henry could be if he runs away, I think.

Question- If he returns, is Henry going to get yelled at/beaten up/shunned/maybe killed?

Chapter 6 (RBoC)

The very beginning of this chapter the men are basically fluffing their egos, and throwing around comments about their cleverness in battle and how it is hot. Henry is deeply happy because he survived, and most of all: didn't run. But to the entire regiment, the worst thing happens... the opposing army charges back. Men around Henry are fleeing left and right, and then Henry does too.
And because Henry runs from the other army, all of his fears came back. To him, the rebel army is coming just for him, they are super strong, a giant dragon ready to eat him. While running, he falls and hits a tree so hard with his shoulder, he face plants into the ground. He sees the men in charge of the cannons, and pities the fools because they don't know any better. To Henry, everyone who stays is incompetent or a different breed of human.
Henry spots a General, and feels he needs to go straight up to him and tell him that what he is doing is stupid, or he wanted to choke him. But the young soldier ends up over hearing the General telling a man named Tompkins to go see a Taylor and tell him to help out in the center. Tompkins hurries to where ever Taylor is. The General starts shouting in disbelief that "They've held 'im!" So he quickly tells another messenger to go after Tompkins to tell Taylor to hit them with all they've got.


Themes-
*Self-Preservation~ Henry definitely shows this in chapter 6.

Question- If everyone else ran too, where did they end up?

Chapter 5 (RBoC)

The fight is still going on and Henry & Co. are waiting for the enemy to come. The waiting reminds Henry of home and waiting for the circus. Henry & Co. seem to be at the front lines, and a General came over to their Colonel telling them they must hold them back.
Once Henry saw the foes coming, all thoughts of running escaped his mind, and he became part of the cause. The bond of brotherhood most soldiers acquire in war became apparent to Henry, and he felt as if he as been in battles before. The young soldier feels that he must fight not just for the cause, but for the end of the battle.
During the battle Henry listens to everyone around him voice/chant different things, like swearing or grunting. He also notices one soldier tries to run away but the lieutenant beats him up a bit and the crying soldier gets back into formation... with help from the lieutenant. The young soldier sees multiple injuries, like a man who's leg knee and everything below got ripped off by a cannon ball. He also sees that his captain is dead.
The enemy is pushed back where Henry is, and everyone either cheers or is completely silent. When looking around, Henry takes in all of the dead bodies around and can't believe how the day can look so nice when so many people died.

Motifs-
*Clean and Dirty~ It seems that when Henry was clean, he was immature, and when feeling grimy/dirty he is maturing.

Themes-
*Courage~ During the whole battle, Henry kept his cool.

Symbols-
*Nature~ When the battle was over, Henry noticed that the day/sky looked perfect, and couldn't understand how that could be when so many soldiers just died. Nature symbolizes the world. Just because one thing is going on, that doesn't mean the entire world will care.

Question- What happened to Jim? Is he alive or wounded, or did he run?

Chapter 4 (RBoC)

This chapter starts off with Henry's group gossiping about what is happening. A lot of names are tossed around, and not much backing them up. Then the battle gets close to them, and the lieutenant gets shot in the hand.

"He began to swear so wondrously that a nervous laugh went along the regimental line. The officer's profanity sounded conventional. It relieved the tightened senses of the new men."

The rest of the army then starts to retreat behind them. Everyone who passes the soldiers of the 304th (Henry's) and the veterans, all look wild and distressed, wanting nothing to do with what they are running from. This makes Henry think he could run away faster than all of them.

Symbol-
*The Flag~ How the battle for the Union is going. Ex.:

Going good=sways in the air nicely.

Starting to go bad=whips violently
Retreat=close to falling over

*Courage~ Henry is still there, and is starting to overcome his thoughts of running away.

Question- If Henry's regiment isn't fighting in this chapter, have they yet?

Chapter 3 (RBoC)

Days later, Henry and the others are still marching and started abandoning things they didn't "need" like their spare shirts, knapsacks, etc.. They also joined up with more soldiers, including veterans. Henry noticed that his regiment's hats still look new, and the vet's hats are worn out. One night Jim wakes up Henry and they leave immediately, and no one knows why. Henry is trying to figure out ways he could sneakily leave, but nothing would be able to work.
Once Henry hears the cannons, he is curious and runs to look at the battle scene. Everyone heads down into the forest where it's taking place and sees a dead guy. Henry sees him and still questions himself. They then get moved about here and there until Henry and Wilson can't take it anymore and start complaining to Jim. After lunch they get moved back to the forest and unlike before, Henry doesn't question himself. But once they get past the forest, his fears come back to him. He decides it's better to just get killed to end his problems. They reach the edge of the battle, and Henry is astonished at what he sees= fighting, and men risking their lives willingly. Henry forgets that he was going to try to get killed, and suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder, Wilson's hand. Wilson tells him he isn't going to survive the battle and hands him a yellow envelope to give to his family.

Themes-
*Manhood~ When the army is on the move once Henry is woken up, his manhood is being tested.
*Self Preservation~ Henry believes it might be necessary to save his life, instead of offer it to the use of the army to fight for their cause.

Symbols-
*The Flag~ Could mean that the army is still holding up the fight...
*The Animal/The Blood-Swollen god~ all symbols for war=savage, and taken a lot of lives.

Question- Even though Wilson thinks he is going to die, will he?

Chapter 2 (RBoC)

This chapter starts out that Jim was wrong about them leaving the next day. But later they end up on the move after a Colonel tells them to get going. So Henry's regiment starts marching with other regiments. While marching they enter a town and a rather fat soldier tries to steal a horse so he can put all his stuff on it, but a young girl runs out of the house and starts fighting with the fat soldier. Immediately, the entire regiment hears them fighting and joins the girl's side and tells her to hit the fat one with a stick. They don't stop bothering the two of them until the fat soldier walks away. They marched until dusk then made up camps. The entire time they are marching, Henry is mentally far away, still debating that single question, "Will I run away?" So the minute the regiment sets up camp, Henry walks away from the campfire and lays down in the grass, thinking about how he took his life at home for granted. While feeling sorry for himself, the loud soldier (aka Wilson) walks past him and Henry asks him if he think he would flee from the battle. Wilson is discouraged by Henry's "doubt" of him, and he walks away, leaving Henry to feel even worse. After this, Henry walks back to the camp and enters his tent that he shares with Jim, and imagines that the battle will be like a monster that he alone is afraid of, and slowly falls asleep while others are playing poker outside of the tent.

Themes-
*Disregard for Human Life- Everybody seems like they are ok with giving up their life at any time, but would they feel that way once the fateful moment comes?

Motifs-
*Youth and Maturity~ Henry and other soldiers are young adults, but they are very mature to be able to handle fighting and risking their lives for their cause.

*Noise and Silence~ The entire day the army is marching, Henry is having an eternal battle. While he fights with himself, he is silent and everyday noises are around him.

Question- Is anyone else hiding their doubt on the upcoming battle?

Chapter 1 (RBoC)

On hills by a river an army rests, waiting for battle. A tall soldier (Jim) comes back to the camp from washing his shirt with information that they are moving out tomorrow to sneak up around the other army from the back. Everything stops while the tall soldier explains this rumor he heard at the river, but one loud soldier denies everything he says. Then the camp explodes with excitement and soldiers start debating about what is about to happen. One young soldier (Henry) gets up and leaves his excited companions to go into his tent and think about his life before he enlisted and the day he left and what his mother said to him. He then starts to think about the next day and if he might run from the battle since he has never been in one before. While thinking about this, Jim and the loud soldier come into the tent he is in, still fighting, and then the three of them talk about the next day. Henry is comforted by what Jim says to him, and is glad they came in at that time.

Question- How long have they been at that camp if a rumor is believed as fast as it was?

Characters