A Battle for Adulthood Throughout the novel The Red Badge of Courage, written by Stephen Crane, a theme is portrayed within a battle that takes place during the Civil War. It is that each person must find the courage to win his or her won battle for maturity or adulthood. A soldier, who is also the main character, Henry Fleming, exemplifies this theme. Henry Fleming begins as an immature soldier who enlists in the army …showed first 75 words of 412 total…

…showed last 75 words of 412 total…the novel, I feel Henry has changed and he knows it. He has become a soldier that gained courage, responsibility, and can admit his wrongdoing. He can never make up for deserting the dying soldier, but now entering adulthood he can “put his sin at a distance.” By gaining new qualities and confronting his cowardice, he is truly mature: “He felt a quiet manhood, nonassertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He was a man.”