Ambrose Bierce

Paper Summary:

This paper illustrates the works of author Ambrose Bierce, novelist of the Civil War, poet and sharp-tongued columnist for a San Francisco newspaper. The paper exemplifies Bierce's work by analyzing "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", written in 1898, that includes a historical setting with science fiction elements: A Southern planter, Peyton Farquhar, is about to be hanged by Union soldiers for acting as a spy. The author feels that Bierce's death bears some resemblance to the stories: He marched off to the Mexican Civil War and was never heard of again nor does anyone know what happened to him.

From the Paper:

"In spite of the horror he saw on the Civil War battlefields, apparently Bierce felt that in the long run, it was good and honorable to fight in just wars. In spite of the seriousness of Bierce's wounds from the civil war, he lived into his seventies. Always an adventurer, he departed at that late age to join the Mexican Civil War in 1913. He wrote to his daughter, "If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican wall and shot to rags, please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico- -ah, that is euthanasia!" "

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