In his factual works, it appears that his "purpose not
instruction, but entertainment"[1].
But in Bivouac of the Dead it appears
that his purpose is to remind people of the fallen heroes who died in the War.
Bierce mentions that he finds such memorable intentions illogical, as "it
occurs that one thinks of the contradiction involved in 'honoring the memory'
of him of whom no memory remains to honor"[2].
Bierce does not appear to use any other historical sources other than his own
memory. He is reminded of the war when something triggers the memory and he is
compelled to write about it. He does so in an effort to relay the horrors of
what he encountered. Through these recounts, he appears to muse on the
pointlessness of the young dying. He also conveys the joy a soldier feels when
he wins a battle, and the anticipation and fear beforehand. His fictional
stories reflect what is written about in the factual. the subtle difference
being that the fictional is mostly written in third person compared to the
recounts which are written in first.
and the rewritten paragraph:
The short stories of Ambrose Bierce contain genuine
historical setting mixed with a fictional plotline. For example, One of the
Missing has the names of prominent historical
figures such as Brigadier General William Tecumseh Sherman who is plainly named
in the story as "General Sherman"[1].
It also depicts the "Confederate retreat"[2]
at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain through the character of "orderly"[3]
Jerome Searing, who "pushed forward across the line of abandoned pits"[4]
which is described as "miles of trenchlines"[5]
in the information sheet The Dallas Road
Community and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. He describes the job of
"orderly" as a job which covers "a multitude of duties"[6].
In Two Military Executions he correctly mentions "the spring of the year
1862"[7]
in which "General Buell's army lay in camp" before the "victory
at Shiloh"[8].
He also states that the army was "raw, untrained"[9]
and had met "hard service...[in]...the mountains of Western Virginia and
Kentucky"[10]. A
Tough Tussle portrays a "silent camp of a whole Federal brigade"[11]
in a "forest in western Virginia"[12]
during the "autumn of 1861"[13].
This story is about a man, Captain Byring, who has a fear of the dead,
encounter the supernatural when a Confederate body is near him when he is alone
in the forest. He ends up dead with his own sword "thrust through the heart[14]"
as the result of "a tough tussle"[15].
These stories convey a sense of the historical nature of the stories of Bierce.
[1]
One of the Missing
[2]
One of the Missing
[3]
One of the Missing
[4] One
of the Missing
[5] Angela
Tooley, The Dallas Road Community and the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain,
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park,
Experience Your America™
[6]
One of the Missing
[7]
Two Military Executions
[8]
Two Military Executions
[9]
Two Military Executions
[10]
Two Military Executions
[11] A
Tough Tussle
[12] A
Tough Tussle
[13] A
Tough Tussle
[14] A
Tough Tussle
[15] A
Tough Tussle
No comments:
Post a Comment