Bierce is definitely sending a message to the reader about his feelings concerning the war & his feelings about the military. He does this through his descriptions, certain plot elements, & statements in the story.
Can you tell what Bierce's attitudes are by reading this short story? How do you think Bierce feels about the military & the war?
I think maybe Bierce is puzzled about the military. He wrote the part in the story about the "Confederate" coming to talk to Farquhar. I personally don't have it nailed down why Bierce wrote that but maybe it is because he doesn't know the tricks of the military. Hmmm... I don't know though
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Bierce was in the Union Army complicates things. He chose to write the Union soldiers as the bad guys, but clearly states they were just doing their job. He mentions a civilian's fear of the army reaching his home, but also writes of Peyton's desire to do everything in his power, even life sacrificing vandalism, for his cause. Kinda complicated, but the best I can guess is that he was very conflicted about the war. One thing he did seem intent on showing us, though, was the destruction of war. Both sides caused suffering, both sides suffered.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Bierce was in the civil war! Do you know why he made the union bad if he was on the union side? Did he just have bad experiences with the union side?
DeleteI was confused about that part also but then he said the confederate talked to him and I wasn't sure why he would sabotage the union especially since he was in the army. I think Ambrose doesn't like war and/or had a bad experience with it
ReplyDeleteSorry, I am a little confused. :) Tate, you weren't sure why who would sabotage the Union?
ReplyDeleteTate - Something to understand that confused some students (because you almost don't catch it - it goes by so quickly) is that the Scout who stopped at Farquhar's house was not actually a Confederate Scout. He was a Union Scout dressed as a Confederate Scout. Does that info help make sense of things?
ReplyDeleteOhhhhhhhh I didn't know that he was a Union scout! I thought he was a legit confederate. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteI think Bierce definitely had a strong view about the military. He seemed to think honor was greater than loyalty to his family. I say this because, in his story, Farquhar died to sabotage the army over being loyal to his family by taking that risk.
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