From this point on in the novel, the second day of Henry's combat experience, he develops rapidly into a man, into a courageous duty-bound soldier. Indeed, he reaches his full, soldierly manhood in Chapter 17 when he participates in a battle and fights like a "wild cat." Crane shows Henry's transition as he awakens to the realization that he is, in fact, a soldier who must kill. This is Henry, the new Henry, the soldier hero. Henry is a changed person; he is now a soldier and a man.
In the remainder of the novel, Chapters 19 to 24, Henry becomes a model soldier, showing courage and bravery and allegiance to duty. Henry also determines that he will use his poor treatment of the tattered soldier as a reminder that he must balance humility with confidence, a sentiment that marks Henry as a mature person.
Crane structures the novel to show Henry's quick growth from boy to man by the evening of the second day of combat. Crane speaks to a universal truth about war: that boys must quickly become men in order to survive.
