themes, motifs, and symbols

Themes: an idea that recurs in or pervades a work

• Courage- Henry showed his courage in battle not until later in the story and i believe it was a major theme in the story because it showed the men's growth from when they left home to when they had to fight or their country and lives as many do today still.

• Manhood- When the men start depending on themselves and each other instead of their mothers they show their manhood.. It is relevant in this story because they all had so far to grow to get through battle.. Henry also feels that he became a man by the end of the story. :)

• Self-preservation- Henry in the beginning was a mama's boy and he doubted himself while in the regiment, and as the time went on, he made excuses for himself and saw that he was different than the other men... the way they thought, acted, and anything else he could think of, but when he changed he saw that he really was like them and he became braver, bolder, more confident, and he felt that he became a man over the time he was gone from home and was @ ease with himself to live his own life.
  

• Disregard for Human Life- In the beginning the men take no concern for the lives of others and as the story progresses they realize what a life is worth and value each others' as friends. Henry defending the tattered soldier(in his mind) @ the end of the story, shows that he knows this and he also wanted to die on the battle field rather that run away again because he knew what he was fighting for. He was more of a man than before and believed many things that he didn't when he arrived.
  

Motifs: distinctive feature or dominant idea

• Noise and Silence- Noise and silence were things in the story that were primarily in battle or in a soldier's mind. Some from war trauma, but mainly from battles the man fought and by the sounds coming from different directions, it was easy to tell who was winning or losing.
  

• Light and Dark- Light and dark were shown by colors of uniforms or blood, or even night and day... telling when they fought and when they marched, or when they slept.
  

• Clean and Dirty- After battles or when someone was hurt they would describe them as dirty, but when the men first put their uniforms on, it was a clean feel.. i think when they describe a bright new day it makes me think of clean, but when they spoke of grey sky and the colors within it, it seemed very dirty to me.
  

• Youth and Maturity- You can tell who's in charge or been there longer by the respect level the soldiers have for them. Henry was called the youth throughout the entire story, but he as the story progressed, started being notified as Henry which tells me that he no longer is the youth, bu he is a man... The mature.
  

Symbols: objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas

• The Dead Soldier- The dead soldier was a symbol to Henry of what could be of him if he continued to do what he was doing and that he needed to grow to be a man and he would no longer fear what he was entitled to die for and to appreciate the life he was given.
  

• The Flag- In the last battle, Hery was a flag bearer and the flag stood as their sign that they were still going and weren't going to stop... not till the last man down.