Journal #23 - Red Badge of Courage 1-8

Chapters one through eight of The Red Badge of Courage are a very interesting way to look at the Realism literary period. One of the characteristics of the realism period is the hero, which is supposed to be just the average person who can be put into extraordinary situations. This is shown by the novel because the main character is an ordinary teenage boy who aigns up for the army during the civil war with the dreams to become the real American hero. Another quality is the reflection of society in the novel, which in this story is shown during the beginning of the novel when Henry signs up for the army. This exihibits society because in doing this action, all of Henry's peers are sad that he is leaving and everyone congragulates his for signing up for the army. These people treat Henry almost as if he had already fought in the war and had already killed many people in route to become the true American war hero. Nature is represented during the realism period as a form of protection against society and it's harms. This is proven as Henry runs away from the battle, because the forest is concealing him from all of his comrades as he runs away. Human nature is also i big part of realism, becuase the authors give real uman emotions to represent what happens in the story. Henry feels very guilty after he had run away from the battle, however he tries to justify himself. I think that he tries to justify himself because this is common human nature to try to make yourself not come out as the bad guy. He also shows human nature in the beginning of the book when he signs up for the army. I think this becuase when he first signs up for the army he is very confident and he has the "superman" complex where he feels as if he is invincible because he is so young. But this changes throught the story considering he runs away from the battle during these first eight chapters.