.. It was a goddess, radiant, that bended its form with an imperious gesture to him. (Conrad 81)
Crane thus suggests how the heat of battle becomes focused on a symbol, in this case the flag, and soldiers emerge from battle with this new symbol clearly in mind. The imagery used makes an association between the flag and a goddess, thus indicating a sexual appeal at the same time.
Henry changes in the course of his experience, moving from the group of unseasoned soldiers toward the group that has been in battle and now knows the reaity of war:
He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle. The sultry nightmare was in the past. He had been an animal blistered and sweating in the heat and pain of war. (Conrad 100)
Again, Crane here recalls the idea of war as an animal activity, though the dedication of the soldiers to the flag shows that there is more to it for the human animal than there would be for any other animal. Crane shows this as he describes the young man after the battle, noting how he has met the beast and been changed by it, his primal instincts brought to the fore. This brings an even deeper change in the young man: "He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate. He became not a man but a member" (Conrad 25). Henry's individuality is lost in the mass of soldiers with whom he battles the enemy. Crane shows here how the individual becomes part of a group and begins to think of himself as part of something outside his own person. This can also link to the flag cited above, the symbol of that something greater with which the individual identifies.
Encountering death on the battlefield, Henry's first reaction is anger and a desire to fight even harder to get revenge on those who have meted out this death. However, the reaction of an older soldier is different:
Look-a-here, pardner,' he said, after a time. He regarded the corpse as he spoke. 'He's up and gone, ain't 'e, an' we might as well begin t' look out fer ol' number one.... (Conrad 44)
The older veteran thus suggests another...
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