The author emphasizes that one juvenile accused of murder was "so brutalized as a child that by the time he was arrested for murder at age 14, he had tried to kill himself six times" (Paragraph 6). In the context of this article, why do people do bad things? Do you think people’s backgrounds or past experiences excuse their actions? Cite evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.

The red badge of courage documents henry's growth and maturity as a soldier through the changes in his personality and behavior. during this transition, henry's emotions run the gamut from glory to fear to depression to anger to exhilaration to courage to honor. his personality and behavior move from innocence to experience, in essence from doubt to duty. henry's maturing process occurs very quickly. in the span of just a few days, henry experiences a lifetime's worth of growth — from his enlisting for self-centered reasons of glory, to the exhilaration of his first battle, to his running from his second battle for fear of being killed, and, ultimately, to his facing the enemy and leading a charge as he becomes one of the bravest soldiers in his regiment. several examples from the novel illuminate the changes which take place in henry's character and in their relationship to the themes of doubt and duty.