Irony of Self-Consciousness in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage

Abstract

This research on the novel The Red Badge of Courage indicates how Stephen Crane ironically unravels a man’s shallowness in his evaluation of maturity and heroism. The protagonist of the novel Henry Fleming joins the regiment under the belief of displaying the heroic deeds and experiencing the combative ambience. Finally, he resigns himself to the delusion that he has become the heroic personage by escaping from the battlefield. Crane ironically presents the hero's failure to carry out his former decision and his false claim of heroism.