ipl-logo

Ambrose Bierce's The Coup De Grace

1109 Words5 Pages

The Coup de Grace, written by Ambrose Bierce, is a realistic fiction short-story. This story takes place in the wilderness, among the aftermath of a bloody battle, which took place during the Civil War. Out of all three stories, I least enjoyed this one, due to, the overall lack of detail, imagery, and emotion. In my opinion, Bierce had several opportunities to add power and substance to the story; yet he simply went with a dry and unimaginative style. Obviously, in a story like this one -where it takes place during a specific war or event- the time period and setting are imperative to the plot. Although, if you omit the specifics, this story could have been placed in many different wars or battles; perhaps, though, it would not fit well in modern times, since our medical and rescue capabilities are exponentially better than they were during the Civil War. …show more content…

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. Cpt. Madwell experienced a horrific plight, when he stumbled upon a friend, who was mortally wounded during the battle, and was lying on the ground within the edge of consciousness, while experiencing excruciating

Show More
Related
473 Words | 2 Pages

The Civil War as noted by many historians as the First Great War was a huge growing pain for our country as a nation and of free people. As all wars are the cost is high and the weight is heavy. The burden of conflict has always rested with the man with the biggest guns and the heart of steel that is the man of the Field

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

Not only does the book highlight the positive reflection on the events of the American Revolution, but gives an overall unbiased insight of the happenings on through Martin eyes. Martin has been successful in portraying the truthful picture of the American Revolutionary War that includes the flawless character and moral perfection coupled with the problems and burdens that befell the army, and how they took it In the initial events of the book, Martin enters the war as a young boy who is anxious to protect his country and experiences noteworthy adventures along the way of his dream. He fights against the

Read More
141 Words | 1 Pages

In Geoffrey Wolff’s The Duke of Deception, had characters that were full of lies. The Duke for example, reminded me of a snake. To put it differently, he was someone who constantly lied, and stole from others and never thought twice of denying it. His character ultimately became someone I couldn’t trust. On the one hand, he seemed to be a modeled citizen that attended an Ivy League school and became this rich snooty person.

Read More
1271 Words | 6 Pages

Although it was a bloody war, disease was the number one cause of death due to all the unsanitary equipment being used. Not only did the cleanness of things factor in the deaths caused by disease, but so did the knowledge of the people back then. They were not familiar with bacterial transmission, so not much was done to keep things sanitary. Luckily, today we have way better technology, knowledge and medical equipment. If it wasn’t for the Civil War and all the people who put their lives on the line, the world wouldn’t be how it is

Read More
562 Words | 3 Pages

Did you know that the Civil War was the bloodiest battle that America had ever seen? It was fought in 23 states for about 4 years. The sound of giant cannons and the cries of wounded men was heard all across the eastern side of the United States. It all started so that slaves could be free. One of the most important people involved in the war was Ulysses S. Grant, the Lieutenant General in the Union Army.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.

Read More
374 Words | 2 Pages

That takes place during the American Civil Was, the night before the Battle of Shiloh. While reading this story a lot of questions go through your head. For example, did this really happen? Was there really a drummer boy at the Battle of Shiloh? Does this story match the historical record of the Battle of Shiloh?

Read More
671 Words | 3 Pages

The Civil War was a vital event that occurred in America’s historical consciousness and in order to understand the medical aspect of the war, first defining exactly what the war was about is fundamental. According to Dixon, the Civil War transpired in 1861-1865 and it was essentially about the “uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states.” Significant battles occurred in Chickamauga, Shiloh in Tennessee, Fredericksburg in Virginia, and Antietam in Maryland, Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and Atlanta in Georgia.

Read More
1101 Words | 5 Pages

The writer is quoted with saying (Nytimes.com, 1863) “A few miles riding brought us so far enough on the way that we began to get glimpses of that stream of wreck; debris mingled life and mangled humanity which always flows from a battlefield. For a time we asked the news of each one we came to, and the replies filled us alternately with sorrow, with indignation, with keen apprehension, and with hopes”. He reported that one soldier said to him “the battle had been going on several hours, and our arms had met with disaster along the whole line”. And another stated that “although unsuccessful at first, our troops at length recovered their ground, and were now driving the enemy”. When staff officer comes up on a man lying on the ground and he stops to ask him if he has any news the man had his arm bandaged and was it was covered in blood.

Read More
508 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch, the main character, shows integrity multiple times throughout the book. Three times where Atticus displayed integrity are when Atticus declares that he has to do Tom Robinson's case because if he did not it would shame him, Atticus explains to Scout why it is important not to humiliate people when a neighbor pays his debt without money, and Finally, Atticus shows integrity when he tells Aunt Alexandra that he trusts Calpurnia. When Atticus was appointed Tom Robinson’s case Atticus accepted it with dignity, he knew if any other lawyer was handed the case that they would do nothing to try and have tom win. Atticus proves his integrity while speaking to his daughter, Scout, “The main (reason) is, if I didn’t

Read More
1911 Words | 8 Pages

The Civil War was filled with many diseases and deaths. Over 620,000 men lost their lives during this war; roughly two thirds of the casualties were caused by the lack of medical knowledge of many diseases. The remaining one third of the casualties was from the actual battle itself. The war became a turning point for many women interested in the medical field. The knowledge of medicine was the beginning of a new age during the Civil War, and the lack of it led to many gruesome deaths.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

Before the war occurred, there were an estimated 2,000 hospital beds and by the end, nearly 135,000 more were produced. The Civil War created a new solution for wounded soldiers called anesthetics. They were plastic limbs used for when soldiers got a limb amputated and could no longer use them anymore (“Civil War Medicine”). The knife used for amputation was very dirty and unsterilized, due to the fact they had no idea that germs caused disease. It was a small long knife that was very sharp to get far into the bodies of the wounded soldiers without having to touch much of their flesh (“Object Record- Knife”).

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

Life for the Union Soldier was not only brutal on the battlefield, but the camp life for a Union soldier was just as cruel. With the lack of personal hygiene, unsavory and repugnant food, and the shortage of clothing made living, a very difficult thing to do. Growth in the number of people with diseases was also a contributing factor to the massive amounts of death within the camp and as well as the post-battle wounds that often left either a man with one less limb or put in a mental institution. A Union Soldier’s life during the Civil War was cruel and horrific during their stay at the camps.

Read More
596 Words | 3 Pages

We all know the saying “There is strength in numbers”, and this applies in the case of the Civil War, the bigger your army, the bigger the chance you have at victory. Casualties were at an all time high and the Union and Confederacy scrambled to protect their troops. The Civil War’s staggering number of casualties accounted for calculated tactics, the troublesome lives of civilians and the emergence of proper medical practice in a race to win, and in doing so caused an abundance of trauma for almost everyone in the nation. Fighting in a war is all about tactics and the Confederate and Union armies managed to keep theirs the same throughout the war. Tactics included surprise attacks and taking back-roads to avoid attacks, as this was essential in keeping their army’s forceful.

Read More
1076 Words | 5 Pages

Billy Pilgrim’s introduction to the war was grim. Soon after his arrival, the regiment he was supposed to be a chaplain’s assistant for was under attack. Three soldiers from the regiment allowed him to follow them. The three soldiers all had

Read More

More about Ambrose Bierce's The Coup De Grace

Related Topics

Open Document