Summary:
In the novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, young soldier Henry Fleming entered the American Civil War as a nervous, unready boy. By convincing himself that others were more cowardly than he, however, Henry succeeded in making himself feel like a hero.
In actuality, a human doesn't have the ability to correctly judge another human's actions, for he is merely mortal and unaware of the other's true intention. In fact, Ambrose Bierce once claimed "To affirm another's guilt or unworth most commonly [is] a justification of ourselves for having wronged him." Basically what Bierce meant by this was that a person oftentimes ridicules another person in order to cover up his own insecurity. Though that person committed a disgraceful action himself, he makes himself feel better by pointing out the flaws of others. By doing so, he creates a more egotistical nature for himself, builds his own self-confidence, and establishes a feeling of superiority. I agree with this quote entirely, because many times in my own life, I have been guilty of lessening the shame on myself by.....
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