Good Friday ! Nice time to be still and reflect...
I had the chance to read a classic by Stephen Crane , too!
The novel tells the story of a young farm boy who joined the Union Army back in the early 1860s despite the protestations of his mother. Just like any adventurous young man during the Civil War period , patriotism , courage and a gung-ho attitude prevailed among the boys not really knowing what they were leaping into! And so , off our hero went to enlist in the Army together with the same innocent and confused boys believing they had what it takes to be a soldier in battle! While the new recruits were aching to go into action, little did they realize that they were about to be deployed into real fighting soon against a vicious enemy in the frontlines!
Unfortunately , no training was enough to prepare the young recruits for the chaos, violence and irony of war. In this novel, our hero-soldier may have been idealistic, even romantic , enough to appreciate the call of patriotism but soon questioned his very motives for joining the Army once he encountered the real horrors that he faced in the midst of battle. And so , while our hero was courageous enough in his first battle, we see him "deserting" his unit in the middle of a skirmish with a charging Confederate Army just on his second encounter! Thus , the beginning of his useless and endless rationalization of his unacceptable action as a soldier!
Later , after regrouping with his original unit , he became braver and showed more courage in the face of relentless enemy fire and charging! Perhaps, to atone for an earlier cowardice action! It's also possible that the author was trying to show here figuratively how our hero drastically changed from being a mere boy to a man as a result of his war experiences...
LESSON : never for once be confused to interpret the audacity and recklessness of youth for the genuine bravery and real courage of a man!
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