Defining Courage
On the surface Henry Fleming's red badge of courage was a gash in his head caused by the butt of a rifle. This wound actually being a fake medal actually representing his cowardice and fear of battle. While many men and women may criticize Henry for deserting his battalion, it is only human nature to want to survive. This is thoroughly explained in Walter Cannon's theory of the fight or flight mechanism. It is a human's reaction to life threatening situations, and only given the options of fighting for survival or fleeing to preserve one's own life (Fornarola 1). In H…
