Nicole Zajac
Mrs. Pinto
Early American Literature A7/8
29 March 2018
The Distortion of Reality in the Civil War
A small deaf child laughs at the bloodied faces of wounded soldiers, unable to comprehend the magnitude of the horrific battle scene before him. A foolish Confederate who has tried to burn the Union Bridge, awaits his hanging. These scenes are drawn from the short stories of Ambrose Bierce, a famous writer and former Union soldier. His short stories reveal the horrific atrocities of war. Contrary to other Civil War writers, Bierce does not romanticize the war and instead proceeds to write of the war realistically. Bierce’s cynical works, many of which contained harsh criticisms of pro-war propagandists, earned him the famous nickname
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For most of his life, Bierce found joy in reading from his father's wide collection of stories. Some of the stories included in this wide variety included Edgar Allan Poe’s works. Reading this literature may have contributed to the genre of literature that Bierce wrote later on in his life, post- Civil War. Growing up, Ambrose Bierce was influenced primarily by his uncle, General Lucius Verus Bierce who was an American general during the Civil War. When Ambrose left home in Indiana at the age of fifteen to live with his uncle, he observed his uncle’s idealism, public speaking skills and social activism. (Warren) Eventually this led him to the decision of enrolling in the Kentucky Military Institute. However, his studies were cut shortly after, as the Civil War broke out. On April 19 1861, Bierce dropped out of school and was one the first people to enlist in the Ninth Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers, a group of soldiers that fought alongside the Union in the Civil War. …show more content…
Ambrose Bierce explains the water below Farquhar’s feet with such extreme detail that one can imagine the “'humming of the gnats that danced above the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies' wings, [and] the strokes of the water-spiders' legs” (Bierce) reading the story. Using this technique helps the reader further focus and comprehend the message of the short story, the cruel Civil War is romanticized. In addition to the imagery, Ambrose Bierce’s well known short story also includes a significant theme of the contrast of a soldier’s glory with the reality of war. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Farquhar enters a dream-like delusion of escaping the bullets and his unavoidable hanging, only to be suddenly awakened by the reality of the cruel situation- he was going to be hanged. Bierce creates Peyton Farquhar as a character whose romantic ideals blind him from the harsh truth of war, and therefore contributes to the overall theme contrasting the idealistic mindset of soldiers and the gruesome reality of
Realities of war are revealed to us by the people that fight in it, yet war itself does just the very same to those fighting. The actions people make on the battlefield, or lack thereof, can be quite telling as to who they are at the core of their individuality. Shelby Foote presents a great deal of battlefield narrative to tell us about who the characters on the stage on the Civil War are without being forthright himself. This can be observed in Foote’s telling of the Seven Days Battle. Just in these six battles over seven days in Richmond, Foote teaches us a great deal about war.
According to the University of Nebraska Press, David L. Snead skillfully interweaves Brown’s personal wartime account within the larger context of the war, his personal relationship with Martha Johnson, and his tribulations in joining and fighting in the United States Army. David L. Snead will attempt to examine these claims
In conclusion, the book, The Slopes of War by N. A Perez, portrays multiple conflicts faced in the Civil War. Perez uses excerpts from passages of the novel to demonstrate various difficulties faced by both armies and Bekah, both a civilian and Union soldier’s
Montague’s experiences during this battle define the problems with Union Army strategies, which exposed them to gunfire from hills and ridges. This explains Sinclair’s understanding of the loss of the battle due to the Union Army’s lack of positioning on the higher ground. These experiences provide a literary context for the bloodshed and nightmarish horrors of the war for the Union Army, since they were the victims of Confederate attacks on their positions from Henry Hill and Chinn Ridge. Historically, Sinclair provides a compelling narrative of Montague’s experiences during the First Battle of
Rogelio Ochoa Freed Period 2 Feb 8, 2023 Perception of Owl Creek Bridge One may see something as they want it to be instead of how it really is. The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce takes place in Alabama. Peyton Farquhar the protagonist of Beirce’s story is a man who is to be hanged and takes place on Owl Creek Bridge. Farquhar was told that anyone who tried interfering with the railroad construction that was happening on the bridge would be hanged.
The story begins with Confederate farmer, Peyton Farquhar, staring down into the water, noose around his neck, surrounded by soldiers who are responsible for his unfortunate demise. In the moments leading up to his hanging, his reality and perception of time become distorted and, "A sound which he could neither ignore nor
Poe’s personal life impacted his writing in many ways such as death of loved one's, alcoholism and symbolism in his stories. Poe was his own worst enemy, when he was about to be successful he sunk his own ship. The death of Poe’s loved ones had a huge impact on his writing. The pain and loneliness That come with death impacted poe a lot.
Bierce served throughout the Civil War, and experienced many horrific things during the many battles he participated in: which could have inspired The Coup de Grace. To be specific, Bierce detailed an account of one of his experiences, where a heavily wounded soldier lay on the ground, and another soldier inquires to him whether or not he should put him out of his misery with his bayonet. To the inquiry, he responded no; unlike how Cpt. Madwell reacted in The Coup de Grace. The main character of The Coup de Grace is a Union officer, called Captain Downing Madwell.
The Civil War is not something that one desires to relive, but Shiloh by Shelby Foote brings to life one of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Foote takes the reader through the Battle of Shiloh from 17 different soldiers’ perspectives. Foote combines his narrative style with traditional historical style to depict the importance of the Battle of Shiloh with accuracy to engage his audience. Through the development of his narrative style, Foote is able to change the way American histories are written. Shelby Foote utilizes Union and Confederate perspectives to present a true narrative on the Battle of Shiloh, while highlighting the human experience in war, to influence the American’s view on history.
This is a time period when northern Union and Southern Confederates clash over slavery and succession. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce writes with the focus of reality versus illusion by using the following: characters, imagery,
In a similar way that culture changes over time, literature also gains and loses new aspects as the years go by. When the literature follows a similar pattern or a common focus, it is called a literary time period. Romanticism, lasting between 1800 to 1860, was a critical literary time period. Aside from popular belief, Romanticism was not related to the kind of romance that would be shared between two significant others. Romanticism first originated in Europe but soon traveled over to the United States.
These literary works were driven by the character rather than being driven by a plot (“Naturalism”). Ambrose took a harsh view of the military boldness that spirited much of the immediate post war literature. After the Civil War, Bierce worked as a journalist for a popular column called “The Prattler.” This happened when he relocated to San Francisco, California. As a dark and bewildering figure, Ambrose Bierce voiced his dissatisfaction against a changing American society.
Because of the damage and tarnish he had done to the bridge this would be Farquhar’s fate. Bierce tells the story in an almost confusing way, by using both back flashes and foreshadowing. In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce he uses many different literary techniques to amplify the suspense of the text. Symbolism is shown many times in Bierce’s writing. He shows the water as freedom, from death and punishment.
In Ambrose Bierce’s Civil War Stories Bierce uses the first story of the book What I Saw at Shiloh as a all encompassing piece to describe his experience in the Civil War. At a time when the common theme of writing about the war was limited to victorious bravado and lacked substance about the war, What I Saw at Shiloh paints a realistic view of the war. Bierce’s descriptions uses many of the same military themes of the day but also include descriptions of the horrors and uncomfortable truths that were missing from contemporary writings following the War Between the States. Following the Civil War there are few examples of literature that accurately describe the war. Poetry and writings from both the North and the South was full of victorious or sorrowful words.
In the Cask of Amontillado, Montresor tells the story in a first person point of view about the way he seeks revenge on Fortunato. Montresor is considered an evil murderer. In comparison, An Occurrence at Owl Creek is mainly told in a third person point of view in which the narrator seems to be viewing Peyton Farquhar being hung by the Union Soldiers. Bierce was in the Union army during the Civil War. This could be possible that Bierce possibly is writing about a personal experience he sees while he is in the army.