Question

Read the following description from The Red Badge of Courage.

12. “The squirrel, immediately upon recognizing danger, had taken to his legs without ado. He did not stand stolidly . . . and die with an upward glance at the sympathetic heavens.”
This description best supports which of the following central ideas?
A. Honor and reputation
B. The definition of courage
C. Growing from a boy into a man
D. The insignificance of man in nature

Answer 1

The answer for this question is letter B.

Henry thinks of Nature as a woman, with a deep aversion to tragedy.

While there was a war around, the nature kept in peace. When he threw a pine cone at the squirrel, and the animal ran with fear, Henry felt the tryumph of this exhibition and thought Nature had given him a sign.

To him, that was an example of courage, although it was just an illusion.