Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Noise and Silence
Great and terrible sounds saturate much of the novel.
The book opens with soldiers chattering, gossiping, and arguing
about when and if they will see action on the battlefield. Soon
enough, the pop of gunfire and exploding artillery drown out their
conversations. The reader comes to associate these sounds with boys,
battle—both physical and mental—and bravado. Wilson, who often airs
his opinions indignantly, embodies these associations early in the
novel when Crane refers to him almost exclusively as “the loud soldier.” The
transformation of Wilson and Henry into men of quiet resolve marks
a process of maturation, wherein a peaceful disposition wins out
over an unquiet one and the security of feeling courage internally
silences the need for public recognition.
Youth and Maturity
Although the novel spans no more than a few weeks, the
reader witnesses a profound change in the characters of both Henry
and Wilson. Though these men do not grow considerably older during
the course of the narrative, one can best describe the psychological development
that the novel charts for them as the passage from youth into maturity.
Innocence gives way to experience, and the unfounded beliefs of
boys make way for the quietly assured, bedrock convictions of men.
