Thesis Paper:

Henry uses war to turn his weaknesses into strengths.
Before Henry actually gets to war and sees how things really are, he has a lot of courage in himself and he talks very big of himself. Once Henry gets there, he gets scared and is afraid. He runs away and doesn’t fight all the battles. Henry soon realizes that he came to fight and not just watch everyone else do the job. He then begins to fight and does a great job. The flag carrier gets killed and Henry and Wilson run other to retrieve it. They both carry it for a while, but before too long Henry is the only one carrying it. “The youth and his friend had a small scuffle over the flag."Give it t' me!" "No, let me keep it!" Each felt satisfied with the other's possession of it, but each felt bound to declare, by an offer to carry the emblem, his willingness to further risk himself. The youth roughly pushed his friend away” (Crane 19). Henry carried the flag with great pride and confidence. He was able to say that he has done his job and would do anything to support his country. Henry stood tall while carrying the flag.

Henry was very afraid of everything that was happening. He was overwhelmed with everything that he said and with everything that was going on. Henry didn’t realize what he was really getting into when he enlisted for the war. He ran away from his regiment. Henry ran into the tattered man and he seemed to annoy him. Although, the tattered man did give him a new look on what he really was doing. He made Henry feel guilty from running away and not fight with the rest of his regiment. “The simple questions of the tattered man had been knife thrusts to him. These thoughts uplifted him. He felt the quiver of war desire. In his ears, he heard the ring of victory. He knew the frenzy of a rapid successful charge. The music of the trampling feet, the sharp voices, the clanking arms of the column near him made him soar on the red wings of war. For a few moments he was sublime”(Crane 10). Henry had the courage to go back and face his regiment after he had left. Henry did lie to them about the injury he showed up with, but he did fight hard when it came to the last few battles. It takes a lot of courage to face the rest of the group after running away and not fighting with them.

At the beginning of the book Henry is known as the youth because he is new to war. He didn’t know what he was really in for and the experienced soldiers all know what to expect. Once the battles first begin, Henry isn’t one who the leaders think of when they think of a good fighter. He was never around and they honestly didn’t know what kind of fighter he really was. Once Henry returned to his regiment, he began to fight with everything he had. He showed a large amount of strength and courage. During one of the last battles, Henry’s regiment was asked to fight on the front line because one of the leaders heard that they were the best. Henry became known as one of the best fighters. “Regarding his procession of memory he felt gleeful and unregretting, for in it his public deeds were paraded in great and shining prominence. Those performances which had been witnessed by his fellows marched now in wide purple and gold, having various deflections. They went gayly with music. It was pleasure to watch these things. He spent delightful minutes viewing the gilded images of memory. He saw that he was good. He recalled with a thrill of joy the respectful comments of his fellows upon his conduct” (Crane 23).