War Books Like Red Badge of Courage and Things

Red Badge of Courage and the Things They Carried both use the experience of war to highlight changes in the characters' self-perception and perception of the world. In both stories, the protagonists struggle with societal expectations and especially with normative masculinity, which is intimately linked with the experience of being in battle. Courage is a central theme in both stories, and becomes an elusive ideal for protagonists Lieutenant Cross and Henry Fleming. In O'Brian's title story "The Things They Carried," courage is shown to be every bit as false and fleeting as it is for Fleming in Red Badge of Courage. O'Brian and Crane rely heavily on symbolism to reveal the inner experiences of young men in battle. The authors deftly show how women represent an alternative to the patriarchal construct of perpetual war, and how men actively choose to keep up the faAade of masculine power through violence and death. Stephen Crane through the novel format in Red Badge of Courage and Tim O'Brian in short story format in The Things They Carried demonstrate how the construct of masculinity and other elements of patriarchy are shown to be psychologically and socially dysfunctional.

In both Red Badge of Courage and in "The Things They Carried," the protagonists struggle with the dichotomy between different brands of masculine courage. The women in their lives represent a courage that is qualitatively different from that espoused in the experience of war. For Fleming, the young protagonist in Red Badge of Courage, his mother embodies love, peace, sanity, and the courage to say no to war in favor of embracing a world that does not resort to violence as a means of solving problems. Courage just as well means the fortitude to walk away from norms of masculinity that are expressed through violence, and the courage to instead embrace a world of peace and love. The young man knows this to be true even prior to enlisting but he has been too thoroughly socialized to resist the calling to assert his masculinity. His mother's voice remains in his head throughout the novel, and Fleming easily can see the shallowness of war. The world of the mother is juxtaposed against the stage of battle during the Civil War. He knows his mother is the one who has the "ethical motive" and recalls that she called him a "fool" for enlisting (Crane Chapter 1).

Similarly, in "The Things They Carried," protagonist Lieutenant Cross thinks about a girlfriend at home named Martha, who represents the same qualities of feminist courage as Fleming's mother. Martha continually reminds Cross of the importance of love, but as he becomes more entrenched in the war and immersed in the identity of being a soldier, Cross finds that Martha and the reality she represents seem "not quite real," (O'Brian 16). Through the poignant symbol of the literal "things they carried," O'Brian shows that emotional and physical burdens weigh down upon the soul of the soldier. Martha reminds him of the importance of carrying that which is important, such as love and self-respect. Interestingly, her photo is one of the things he carries -- it is small but has meaning, and yet he comes to hate himself for loving her and believes that his emotions are cowardly. "He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war" (O'Brian 16).

War becomes an alternate, albeit false reality, as soldiers must continually reaffirm their commitment to the regimen in order to avoid death. Both authors demonstrate the false reality of war by comparing the realities of either mother or Martha with the realities of war. Death surrounds Fleming and Cross, causing them to dissociate themselves emotionally. Cross considers desertion; Fleming actually goes for it and momentarily succeeds, only to return to the scene of battle. Running from the war is established as a quintessential sign of cowardice, and yet both soldiers understand that to stand up for universal ethical values like peace requires far more courage than standing in the line of battle. The state of being a warrior in battle has been idealized, romanticized, and fictionalized. Fleming even compares himself to the heroes of ancient Greek mythology and its epic literature, mentioning the "Homeric" traits of soldiers, and to the perceived "glory" of war and the "ecstasy of excitement" at the prospect of victory. O'Brian's hero feels similarly, although both men become completely disillusioned by what they actually see on the killing fields. Their female counterparts had illuminated the men as to this truth before they even embarked on their respective bellicose journeys.

Both The Things They Carried and Red Badge of Courage trace the evolution of young men's development, showing how maturity into adulthood requires deep insight and introspection. Even when he was young, the seed of doubt about the valor of war was planted by Fleming's mom: "his mother had discouraged him. She had affected to look with some contempt upon the quality of his war ardor and patriotism" (Chapter One). The mother's wisdom is what causes the soldier to live, even as his compatriots perish. He would have been called a coward had his desertion been discovered, but he ended up playing both sides exceptionally well. The soldier flees but he returns unnoticed and then ends up surviving. Likewise, the soldier in O'Brian's story watches his fellow troops die and his mental attitude shifts as a result. Although they are not coming of age stories, these tales demonstrate the shift in perspective that arrives when an adolescent matures into a man. Because the theme of masculinity is central to both stories, the soldiers in question grapple with their own self-concept through gender norms. Both Fleming and Cross learn the importance of wearing "masks of composure," hiding their true fears in order to appear strong to other men (O'Brian 21).