Cruel Humankind

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how both Bierce's short story and Auden's poem imply that humankind is cruel at best, indifferent at worst. However, the author discovers how these pieces also differ from each other in many ways. This essay distinguishes between the way in which Bierce sees death as a 'dignitary' who must be met with certain rituals as compared to Auden who sees death as haphazard, accidental, occurring without ritual or even much notice.

From the Paper:

"Bierce and Auden seem to take a similar dim view of human nature. In the early paragraphs of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce shows the condemned Farquhar to be a loving husband and father. ("He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.") Bierce also describes Farquhar as having a "kindly expression." However, this does nothing to soften the hearts of his captors. "The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded," Bierce tells the reader. Not only are the officers committed to hanging Farquhar, they make every possible effort to kill him following his "escape."

More papers on Cruel Humankind:

• Essay # 85396 : "Cruel and Unusual Punishment"
• Persuasive Essay # 136877 : "Lethal Injection as Cruel and Unusual Punishment"
• Book Review # 115283 : "Elie Weisel's "Night"

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