Isolation in The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane's literary technique has long been a matter of analysis and speculation. In The Red Badge of Courage, Crane takes us into the life of a young man named Henry Fleming, who wants to enlist in the army and fight in the war against the South. Using irony, similes, and symbols, Crane “paints” a vivid picture of what life was like for the fragile Henry Fleming. It opens our eyes to the vast reasons for Fleming's separation and why he lived his life so independently. Henry Fleming, insecure, vulnerable and insecure, was isolated from more than just his family and his regiment; he was isolated from himself. At the beginning of the story, The Red Badge of Courage, Henry and his mother are engaged in an argument over Henry leaving to join the army. By going against his mother's wishes and disobeying her, he isolates himself from his family. This isolation is imperative to the way Henry lives his life during his time in the army. Moral support is something that a family, especially a mother, provides to a child, but because Henry lost some paper. Works CitedBloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Crane, Stephen. The red badge of courage. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999. Gibson, Donald B. The Red Badge of Courage: Redefining the Hero. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.Wolford, Chester L. “Stephen Crane.” Critical investigation of long fiction. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Series in English language. Flight. 2. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Salem Press, 1991.