Red Badge of Courage-Maturing

Every person goes through a natural change in his or her lifetime. This change is the maturation process from childhood to adulthood. This process for some is easier than others. Steven Crane creates a portrayal of the maturation process through his character Henry Fleming in The Red Badge of Courage. For young Henry, the maturation process is a long and hard struggle that takes place through three skirmishes at the battle of Chancellorsville during the …

…we see that Henry reaches a new respectful, honorable, honest, and decent life as a mature adult. “With this conviction came a store of assurance. He felt a quiet manhood, nonassertive but sturdy and strong of blood. He knew that he would no more quail before his guides wherever they should point. He had been to touch the great death, and found that, after all, it was but the great death. He was a man”(134).