Quiz 2

Henry is referred to as "the youth" and Wilson is referred to as "the loud private." How has each character changed from the beginning of the story to now, specifically in regards to these monikers? Use specific examples from the story to support your answer.
- At the beginning of the book, Henry is known as the youth and Wilson is " the loud private." I think Henry is called the youth because he is very young and hasn't really done anything great to prove to the rest of the regiment that he is a man. Wilson is called the " loud private" because he is loud and obnoxious and very full of himself. He pretty much tells Henry at the beginning of the book that he thinks he could defeat the entire enemy on his own; he thinks he is indestructible.
Wilson and Henry really change a lot and in the end are regarded as men. I think this is because of all the great things that they eventually did in the battles. Wilson fires the first shot in the battle when everyone else was scared. Henry takes over the position of flag bearer when their flag bearer is shot. He goes to the front and carries the flag. The Liuetenant tells the commander that they are great men and that they should be moved up to a commanding position. Then in the end they both capture the enemies flag. The rest of the men sort of look up to them and yet the don't let it get to there heads. They also show a lot of respect to the veterans. They arrived to the battlefield young boys, and left men.

Chapter 24 THE END

The regiment is commanded to retrace back to the river where they began. The war is over. Henry begins to recolect the past and the present. He looks back and frowns upon the coward he used to be and feels terrible for deserting the tattered man. But then he seems to forget about the past and think about the present and what he has accomplished. He has fought with courage and survived to tell about it. As the book ends Henry sits in the rain and imagines a world with peace and happiness. Then the rain stops and a ray of sunshine peaks through the clouds.
I think that the ray of sunshine shows a lot of symbolism. I think it shows the peace and brightness that Henry was imagining and also the end of the darkness of war.

Chapter 23

The colonel tells the men that they need to charge or they will have to charge or be killed where they are. They charge the enemies fence with all there might. While they are fighting, Henry sees that the enemies flag barrer has been shot and killed. So he thinks that capturing the enemies flag would be a great accomplishment. Then he runs over to the flag and Wilson takes it from the dead soldiers hands. The enemy has been driven back and defeated once again. They take 4 prisoners of war also. The chapter ends with the men celebrating their victory and Wilson and Henry dicussing their great accomplishments. Why do they take prisoners? Do they hope to get some information out of them? I think that capturing the flag was a big deal.

Chapter 22

Off in the distance Henry can see two regiments fighting each other and men running all over the place. All of a sudden, Henry and his men could hear the enemy charging once again. They prepare for the attack and stand firm waiting for it and the fight begins with gunfire. The enemy is getting dangerously close, so close that Henry can see there faces. Henry is still holding the flag and fighting. The enemy gets position behind a fence where they are able to fight and be protected at the same time. Many of the men from Henry's regiment are being killed or injured. Henry then looks for Wilson and finds him still fighting. Henry says he will keep on fighting until his death. Why don't the men that are still alive find protection or get behind something? Henry continues to show much courage along with Wilson.

Chapter 21

After this victory the men of the regiment begin to think that they are unstoppable and can not be beat. But then a lieutenant comes by and tells their commander that if they would have gone another 100 yards they would have been successful. The men seem to be ashamed by what the man said since they thought that they had done a great job by killing so many rebels. The men start to talk badly about the lieutenant and say that it sucks fighting someone who no matter what you do it's wrong. Then two younger men come running up to Henry saying the the lieutenant asked the colonel who carried the flag. The colonel said it was Henry Fleming and Wilson was the other man who was at the front. The lieutenant says that Henry and Wilson deserve high praise for what they did in the battle. Why was there victory unsuccessful? What more did the lieutenant want them to do? They killed a lot of rebels.

Chapter 20

The regiment continues to fight and Henry and Wilson continue to fight over the flag and who is going to carry it. The regiment is getting defeated and feel as if they have been betrayed by their officers. Is being a mule driver a bad thing? Henry seems upset that his lieutentant is calling him one. Henry takes the position of the color bearer and goes to the front and Wilson once again is doubting that he will make it out alive and tells Henry goodbye. Henry tells him to shut up. Their is fighting and so much smoke that they couldn't even see their enemy. But when the smoke cleared they see the spot across from them is vacant. There is nothing but dead corpses, the enemy had once again been driven off. I think that Henry is becoming more and more of a man as the book goes on. Where did this courage and manlieness come from?

Chapter 19

This chapter begins with the battle just beginning. Henry and his regiment are charging, waiting for the enemy to get closer before they fire. Henry is charging saying there are men to his left and right being pierced by bullets and falling to the ground dead. The men were scared and looked dumbfounded as they look at the enemy coming towards them. The commander is yelling at them to start fighting and to wake up but they don't move; they are stunned. But then Wilson fires the first shot and it seems to wake up the men. The men continue to fight and then move to a different spot across the lot where they weren't as vulnerable. As they are crossing men are getting shot left and right including the man who was in charge of carrying the U.S flag. So Henry and Wilson pick up the flag and take over that position. Why are they always in a bad place to fight? It always seems like the enemy has the upper hand in the battles.