10). Eventually, Henry faces his ultimate enemy—himself. Henry wants to be a legendary hero like the ones he has read about, but at the same time, his fears nag at him, making him doubt his own self-confidence. He later questions his fellow soldiers in an attempt to gain some confirmation on his anxieties and wonders whether they will accept him later should he run from the battle. Such questions suggest the constant dilemma experienced by inexperienced, young adolescence, such as conformity, peer pressure, and acceptance. Crane communicates the initial stage of Henry's transformation when Henry expresses uncertainty of who he is. At last, Henry becomes increasingly aware of the laws of nature and that can not escape death. Henry fights well in the first battle against the rebels, but during the second clash, he loses his nerve and flees in terror thinking that he is about to be eaten by "a red and green monster", or the monster of death. To reorganize his thoughts, he walks deeper into the woods not to learn from nature, but to justify his running from danger by a squirrel running away from a thrown pinecone. He then comes across a dead man leaning beside a tree. Crane notes Henry's reaction to the corpse: "The youth gave a shriek as he confronted the thing. He was for moments turned to stone before it. He remained staring into the liquid-looking eyes. The dead man and the living man exchanged a long look. Then the youth cautiously put one hand behind him and brought it against a tree. Leaning upon this he retreated, step by step, with his face still toward the thing" (64). Because the squirrel fled from the pine cone, Henry believes nature's law to be that threatened animals flee from danger. Now, Henry reaches a place in the forest that resembles a "chapel", an incredible metaphor for the heart of nature. Here, he realizes that the image of the decaying man truly reflects the laws of nature–not the fleein...
