The meaning of courage in relation to gender identification in the war texts of Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway and Tim O'Brien

War has been one of the dominant issues in literary history, and it presents human beings in their raw, primitive, and instinctual state in the extreme situations that deprive them of refined, cultivated, and civilized ways of thinking. Suspending the peacetime code and allowing immoral and inhuman behavior, war becomes the testing ground not only of physical but also of mental, and to a great degree, moral and ethical strength. The immoral and inhuman behavior is frequently encouraged and praised as part of courage that tends to be identified with manliness/manhood.; Socialization plays an essential role in courage/cowardice binarism. Gender identification is one of many aspects of socialization, and it forces each male character to behave in manly or masculine ways that social members have traditionally associated with one of core values of courage, especially in wartime. Yet, despite the irresistibly strong influence of socialization, each individual proves or is seen to prove courage in various ways. This diverse demonstration of courage results from the individual's own code of conduct, which may not be always in harmony with social expectation. Sometimes an individual may reject the socially expected or imposed role for the sake of his own survival, and act by his own code of conduct to develop a concept of courage in his terms. What seems to be the essential factor in determining courage or cowardice is whether or not the individual displays visible manly action which his fellow beings would agree and judge as courageous behavior. But the more important element is how the individuals perceive and evaluate their behavior according not so much to socially approved code as to their own codes of conduct. This has much to do with the changeability of self.; My dissertation will explore the relationships between the pressure of socialization and the main characters' responses in pursuing courage, and the varying concepts of courage reflected in each of them in their social and cultural contexts.