"The Red Badge of the Courage "

Book report

Lina Hidayatus Sholihah

 

1. Book Title

The Red Badge of the Courage

2. Theme

Henry Fleming's attempt to prove him a worthy soldier by earning his "red badge of courage.”

3. Plot Summary

Henry Fleming, a youth who registered himself as an army in a war that he hopefully could bring it into the reality being a warrior of the war. He had waited this moment at that long time. When the war was begun, he trembled and confused because he never had a war experience before. When the enemies were coming he always thought about death so that he decided to flee. Although his regiment had won the war but he was still afraid to back there. He has no brave anymore at that time. As he met someone who fled like him he always asked “did you hurt?” they said “Yes” but when they asked him, he went off.

After all, Henry met an injured army, Jim Conklin. He melted with his struggle to survive though finally Jim died. He tried to be brave even it was rather difficult to overcome his fear of himself. In the middle of war, Henry’s head was hit by an opponent that made his head wounded. Then he back to his camp and met his jovial friends, Wilson and Simpson. They cured Henry kindly. Wilson asked Henry to give back his letter to his family if he died in the battlefield. Henry thought that not only him who was afraid of war but also Wilson, his friend. Afterwards, he changed his fear to his enemies become a strong anger and a leader of war. Henry Fleming had revolutionized himself from a coward, loser and less confident become a brave man and a responsible army. Yet he awoke and alived he was awared that it was a nightmare. The nightmare of a battle was in the past.

4. characters and Characterization
• Round Characters
• Henry Fleming was firstly a coward young man and loser but finally he changed his frightened feeling become a brave man and a responsible army.

“Ma, I’am going to enlist.”

• Flat Characters
• Jim Conklin was a dead soldier. He was kind.

“I’ll tell you what I’am afraid of, Henry,” “I’am afraid I’ll fall down. And then one of those artillery wagons will run over me.”

• Wilson was a jovial and kind man.

“We’ll have you fixed up in a minute.”

• The corporal was Henry’s friend in the regiment. He was kind and care.

“By morning your head will feel hot and dry. And you may feel sick. But you’ll be ok. Now, you just sit here and don’t move.”

• Lieutenant was protective.

“We’ll all get killed if we stay here. We’ve only got to go across that field.”

• Protagonist
• Henry Fleming
• Jim Conklin
• Wilson
• Henry’s Mother
• Antagonist 
• The Confederate Army
• Henry Fleming

5. Setting

Time           American Civil War in the 1861-1865  

Place          in the fields and roads of the American South, as a Union regiment wanders through Confederate territory and encounters the enemy on the battlefield.

6. Style

The high level style because it’s rather difficult to be understood because of many unknown vocabularies that I haven’t known.

7. Point of View

The point of view in this novel is in the first-person narrative.

8. Moral value

Don’t ever afraid to make a dream. Make your dream, use your creative way to reach it and wish that your dream will come true. A good and hard struggle will appreciate what you have done to get what you want to be.