A Fight to Lose Individualism to Conquer Ones Self

A Fight to Lose Individualism to Conquer Ones Self Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage establishes individualism as an unfavorable quality. Group accomplishments are more important than that of the individual to get through a battle of war. And one must lose that identity in order to actually find one’s self. Crane’s main character, Henry, is portrayed as a youth in search of self worth and assurance. Crane creates Henry as …

…the novel Crane stressed how individuality was a negative thing because “there is no I in team.” Crane supplies models for the individual to comply to and elucidates that loyalty to the group would bring reward but departure from the regiment would be detrimental. But in the end he shows that individuality is a good thing if you loose it in order to better fit into the community and begin to learn ones true self.