Job #3 - Literature Connections

 This book reminds me of the book we just read, the Red Badge of Courage.  This is because of the     over-arching themes of war, the consequences of war, and hoped for glory by both of the main characters.  You also have to consider the style that stories are written in, which is realism.  Unlike Henry Fleming, the main Character of the Red Badge of Courage, Peyton Fahrquhar does die and feel the pain of his actions.  Ambrose truly puts Peyton's death very bluntly and does not hide it with fancy words.

As I looked up more on Ambrose Bierce, I found out he had written many books with the always underlying theme of the civil war. Which makes sense because it was such a prominent event happening in his life and he actually did fight in the Union army during the most grueling wars.  Ambrose was a sergeant and helped repair some railroads in Tennessee near a bridge known as the Owl Creek Bridge.  Hearing this I wondered if the book was possibly a true account and if Ambrose might have seen this in real life.  Do you guys think this could have been possible!?   

Thinking Questions

  As I was reading the book I noticed this quote which was said in the middle of his almost drowning scene "What splendid effort!—what magnificent, what superhuman strength!" (Chapter 3, page 14).  My question is, how did he have this sudden strength when he was almost dead?  And if he truly had this strength why did he decide to use it even while he wanted to die?  One last question, as Fahrquhar emerged from the water he saw everything clearly; do think that if it had actually happened in real life that Fahrquhar would see the same thing?  (The real thing I'm trying to ask is if you think it could possibly be realistic.)

Job #1 Line Illuminator

 "An hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going northward in the direction from which he had come. He was a Federal scout." (Chapter 2, page 13)

        I really wonder at this, because for a Federal scout to have come down just to trick Farquhar just seems very unrealistic.  Maybe it was because the scout knew that Farquhar felt, "No service was too humble for him to perform in the aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier."  But one last question comes to my mind, if the Union army really felt like Mr. Farquhar was a true threat why didn't the scout just kill him right then and there with Farquhar's wife?   Why lead him into a trap? Maybe it was because he was still quite a ways away from the Union line and was going to explore more?

      

  

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