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!?
Good for you for researching some of Bierce's fascinating life, Alyssa. We will talk about his life & war experiences in class.
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting Alyssa! I knew that Bierce had fought in the war, but I didn't know that he had repaired railroads or that the book had actually gotten it's name from a real life bridge he knew of. And that is a great point.. I think it's very possible that he actually saw this happen, and therefore, it inspired him to write this story about the brutality of the war.
ReplyDeleteI think that could definitely be possible. It is crazy to think that he very well could have experienced this.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's very possible that Ambrose saw something similar to what happened to Peyton. It may have been bits and pieces of things he saw that he clumped into one story.
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