Blog Seven

In Ambrose Bierce's short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," he wrote about a hanging about to take place. Peyton Farquhar, the main character, was being hanged for attempting to sabotage a bridge (Bierce). Once he was hanged, he fell into the water and swam to a forest. He experienced a lot of psychological phenomena (Renfro). At the end of the story the reader learns that his entire escape was all in his mind. The story is known for facing death during war time (Renfro).

Bierce was a soldier during the civil war. He said that there were a lot of reasons for the war, but the only reason he really cared about was freedom (Guelzo). He moved up in the rankings over time and become a first lieutenant (Guelzo). This makes him different from Emerson and Thoreau. Emerson and Thoreau wanted the war because they did not like slavery. They were both against slavery for their own personal reasons. In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," no references to slavery are really involved.

Emerson and Ambrose wrote very differently. Emerson seemed to focus on the facts and got straight to the point while Ambrose wrote a fictional story with metaphors describing his view on the war. Instead of just knowing what the author was writing, like Emerson and Thoreau, you really had to think about the references that Ambrose was making and how they were related to the civil war.

Ambrose wrote a lot about the psychological factor of war. For example, he wrote "As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon--then all is darkness and silence" (Ambrose). Before reading this, you learn about a horrible tale of how he escaped death. When the reader reads this, they get a little mad and confused. Imagining something this in depth is not a normal thing, but apparently during war this kind of illusion is a factor of everything a soldier goes through. I do not think that Thoreau really knew much about this, but I am sure that Emerson did because he was a nurse during the civil war and saw all the gruesome acts it brought (Guelzo).

Bierce, Ambrose. "Fiction: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Fiction: Welcome to The EServer's Fiction Collection. FICTION. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

Guelzo, Allen. "Ambrose Bierce's Civil War: One Man's Morbid Vision." History Net: Where History Comes Alive - World & US History Online. Civil War Times Magazine. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. .

Renfro, Y. P. "'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0691&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 15, 2012).