Bubba Gump
Comrades
Comrade- A person who shares one’s interests or activities; a friend or companion Word History: A comrade can be socially or politically close, a closeness that is found at the etymological heart of the word comrade. In Spanish the Latin word camara, with its Late Latin meaning “chamber, room,” was retained, and the derivative camarada, with the sense “roommates, especially barrack mates,” was formed. Camarada then came to have the general sense “companion.” English borrowed the word from Spanish and French, English comrade being first recorded in the 16th century. The political sense of comrade, now associated with Communism, had its origin in the late-19th-century use of the word as a title by socialists and communists in order to avoid such forms of address as mister. This usage, which originated during the French Revolution, is first recorded in English in 1884.
Henry has two types of comrades in the army. First there are his fellow deserters and secondly there are his fellow members of the red badge of courage club. At his first battle Henry wimps out and follows his fellow comrades who decide to save themselves from the beast that was devouring the insane, foolish men who continued on their ridiculous “heroic” fight. It is a race between him and his other deserters to escape the clutch of the fowl beast of war.
Henry realizes his mistake in following the true and only fools on the battlefield, those that ran, and returned dissatisfied with himself to his regiment. It is then that he assimilates back into his regiment, that he reconnects with his fellow comrades. He was injured by a fellow soldier and created a lie about fighting on the right field to fit in with his fellow soldiers. He now has a red badge of courage and can now begin to overlook his past, which occurred in the dark, in order to present himself in the light.
Jim Conklin was Henrys friend. He was tall and very talkative. He was injured during the Henry’s first battle. This causes a conflict in Henry for leaving his buddy to eventually die on the battlefield. He ran like a coward and his friend died a hero because he stayed and fought. Conklin’s death causes Henry to feel guilt and corrects his mental folly. Henry learns to be brave, for his comrade Jim Conklin.
Wilson is Henry’s comrade. The two of them become friends due to their
“experiences,” both have survived their first battle, and changed as a result, and both have lost a close friend, Jim Conklin. Wilson looks after Henry due to his “battle wound.” These two are comrades.
It is ironic because I describe Henry’s relationships with soldiers as comradery but in reality they were nothing more than lies. Henry can never really develop any true comrades after his “first battle” because his friends and him do not share the same experiences. On one side there is the warred, the battled, the experienced Wilson and Jim, and on the other side is the weak, cowardly, inexperienced Henry. They do not share the same interests or activities. They may have a friendship but until Henry commits an act of true courage and bravery he will be all alone in his regiment. He needs to destroy the barrier that divides his self-image from his appearance. Henry is neither a coward nor a hero in his own eyes. He has no true comrades. If he were to leave the army right this instant he would feel empty and sorrowful for being a coward and leaving his “comrades” to die. He has comrades but he does not have “comrades” in the sense of true comradery.
Comrade- A person who shares one’s interests or activities; a friend or companion
