English 3: Exploring the Life and Literary Works of Ambrose Bierce

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the life and literary contributions of Ambrose Bierce. It begins with his birth in 1842 and traces his experiences as a veteran author during the Civil War, highlighting his skills as a poet, journalist, and short story writer. The essay discusses his famous work, 'The Devil's Dictionary,' and his influence as a literary critic. It explores his involvement in journalism, his experiences during the war, and the impact of these experiences on his literary works, including stories like 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.' The paper also delves into his personal life, including his marriage, family, and the tragic events that marked his life. Finally, the essay addresses the mystery surrounding his disappearance in Mexico and the impact of his works and disappearance on later writers, movies, and television shows, and the adoption of his work in the creative domain. The essay uses MLA style with a focus on non-internet sources.

Eliegha Winkler
Mrs. Morris
English 3
January 31, 2020
Ambrose Bierce
‘Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage’ is one of the famous quotes by
Ambrose Bierce. He was born in the year 1842 in Circa. Bierce had been a veteran author in
the time of Civil war. Apart from that his area of expertise included his oeuvre as a poet,
journalist as well as a short story writer. ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ had earned him great
renounce, finding its place in the American Literature masterpieces. His eminence was
mainly because of his realist fictions. His influence as a literary critic was considered with
great fear as well. His respect has been added upon by his expertise in the field of journalism
as well as in poetry. He has been placed alongside of Poe and Lovecraft for his contribution
in the horror story. The year of 1913, particularly in December, rumors circulated about him
being travelling to Mexico in order to build his competence with the revelation happening at
Mexico, under the name of Mexico revolution. However, no news about him was being
received after that. Apart from his successful literary life, his life has been marked by the
contemporary political instability.
Bierce was born in the year 1842 on June 24th in log cabin in Ohio. His father was
Aurelius Bierce who had a pure American lineage. Owing to the migration noted by the
name of Great Puritan, his family too migrated to the North America. As a result of this
migration, Bierce have often seen to voice against the values of the Puritan beliefs as well the

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obsession of the people of his time with genealogy. Despite of the atmosphere of poverty
where he grew up, he was instilled with rich literary taste that drew him towards literary
works. At the age of 15, Bierce took up the job of a printer for a newspaper in Ohio. The
newspaper, the Northern Indiana was marked by its abolitionist ideals(Bierce).
His life is marked by the bravery that he had exhibited in the Civil War in America.
He registered himself as a part of the union army. During the first battle of the civil war, that
took place in Philippi, he took part. He also gathered the coverage of the prominent
newspapers of the time for his valiant act. In the April of 1862, he took part in the Shiloh
battle whose gruesome experience created deep impact on his mind and acted as a source for
his literary work in the later part of his life. He also wrote a memoir based on the experiences.
He had withdrawn himself from the ‘military related works after suffering from serious head
injury. He returned to his military life in the year 1866.
On the December of 1871, he got himself married to Mary Ellen, who gave him two
son and a daughter. However, his personal life is marked by series of unfortunate events
where by his first son committed suicide and his second son passed away after suffering from
pneumonia. Gradually he separated from his wife after experiencing an extra marital
inclination on her part(Bierce).
His literary career is marked by his contribution in the field of journalism. During his
years in San Fransisco he contributed to a number of local newspaper. The newspaper that
has been enriched by his contribution were the overland Monthly, the Wasp, the Californian
and the Argonaut. The anthology of Crime later collected his contribution in the criminal
reporting. He also contributed to a number of magazines and his first book was The Fiend’s
Delight published in the year 1873 from London. As soon as he returned from the US, he

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took shelter in San Francisco where he tried his hand in a mining company, which after
having failed, Bierce returned his focus on his career of journalism.
His renounce as a journalist had surpassed his esteem as a writer of fiction. The years
between 1888 and the 1891 experienced a tremendous flow of the literary works from Bierce.
The absurdity experienced in death as well as the inscrutable aspect of the universe had
returned over repeatedly in his work. The experiences gathered by Bierce during his years in
war , acted as his source of inspiration for his literary works(Bierce). The stories of Bierce
that reflected the experiences of the wars included the One of the Missing, A horseman in the
Sky, Chickamauga and many others. The realistic inspiration of his work had been derived
from his 25 years of experience in the wars. Bierce also contributed by writing horror stories
with greater psychological imprint that earned him a notable position beside Allen Poe. His
literary oeuvre included his poetry beside stories related to ghost and war
(poetryfoundation.org). Grotesque as a literary element featured in his fables of fantastic
nature. The usage of grotesque as a genre occupied the literary domain of 20th
century(Bierce).
The Devil’s Dictionary is considered to be the most famous work of Bierce which was
initially framed as a piece for the newspaper. The item later has been published as a book in
the year 1906. Cynic wordbook included definitions of the English words in satirical form.
The collection of the word mainly comprised of the political words with dual connotations as
well as with words of cant. Scholar as well as his contemporary literary critics criticized his
work on the ground of tricky endings that featured most of his works. Later part of his
literary works drew their inspiration form the work of Maupassant, where he used elements to
create an atmosphere of shock for his readers (Woodruff). According to critics, the intention
of Bierce behind doing so was to create a temporary instability in the intellectual psyche of
the readers. His works are also noted by his bias as he was deeply imbibed with the ideals of

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nationalism(Bierce). The resonance of his experience in his work was critiqued by their lack
of compassion and nature of satire in the time of crisis. Critiques blamed him for exhibiting
‘merciless cruelty’ in his work. Stephen Crane was one of the pioneer who valued his literary
works involving unnatural elements. However it was a rare incident where the supernatural
elements of his literary works had earned praise. His works have been regarded as the ones
loaded with elements those are savage and grim. His works have been marked by their
elements creating horror and sufficed the genre of weird fiction. Howells considered Bierce
as one of the three great writer of his contemporary time (Bierce).
At an age of 71. Bierce had sought to visit the battlefield where he had taken part in
the military activities. Later he joined the army of Villa’s army as an observer whereby he
had observed the Tierra Blanca battle. As per the information collected from several sources
Bierce had travelled with the army in the city of Chihuahua. As a part of his communication,
which acts as the last of the record included a letter written by him to a close friend of his
Blanche Partington. The letter ended with him ascertaining that the next day of his life would
be marked by his journey commenced to a newer land (Pope). The next part of his life is
marked by his disappearance. The disappearance of Bierce is considered as an incident of
crucial importance in the literary history of American literature. According to the opinion of
Joe Nickell, it is suggested that the claims of the existence of the letter is marked by their
own absurdity as what is found to have existed is the draft of the letter that never got
delivered (Nickell).
The investigation done by the US officials in order to trace Bierce was marked by
failure. The accounts of those present in Villa was marked by their ambiguity and their
disruptive nature. According to certain narratives the Bierce was last noticed in the
Chihuahua. The tradition of documentation by the oral method in the Coahulia, a priest by the
name of James Lienert recorded the incident of a man named Bierce who have been executed

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in the cemetery of the town by the firing squad. However, Nickell draws upon the the
narrative of Bierce’s friend Neale to mention that the suffering of Bierce owing to asthma had
turned out to be critical during his days in the Villa. As per that, it had been concluded that
Bierce would not have visited Mexico in such a crucial health condition. However, in case of
the investigations conducted in this respect was marked by their ambiguity because the lack
of evidences and any particular conclusion could not have been drawn upon.
The impact of Bierce’s contribution in the literary oeuvre of American fiction has
earned him eminence and renounce beyond imagination. The impact of such reputation can
be noted in the influences that he served to the writers from a later period of time. As a result,
the literary domain experienced a continuation of the legacy whereby novels, movies,
television shows have been experienced by his multifarious personality. Among the
inspirations, the disappearance of Bierce occupied a primary position. Among the write who
took Bierce as inspiration involved eminent personalities including Winston Groom, Jack
Finney and several others. Most of these works involved a fictional character by the name of
Ambrose Bierce that earned these works great reputation. Movies have filmed upon the
literary works of Bierce and the stories have been adopted for episodes of televisions. Wild
Talent by Charles Fort featured the ambiguous narrative about the disappearance of Bierce.
The paper dynasty featured the character of Bierce played by James Lanipher and the
character of Hearst was being played by James Hampton. The account of the disappearance
of has been presented in a fictionalized form in ‘The Old Gringo’ by Carlos Fuentes.
The life of Ambrose Bierce has been a vivid one marked by its ambiguity. Born in a
family of Americans he had spent his earlier days amidst poverty whereby his time being
marked by the one of Civil war had shaped his ideals with the one of a nationalist. Earlier
part of his life is marked by his participation in the war as well as his notable contribution
that had earned him due recognition. However, despite of the renounce the personal life of

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Bierce is marked by mishaps. He is primarily noted for his contribution in the field of
journalism. His stories are realistic in nature carrying the experience nurtured by him during
the time of the war. Later his work as well as the ambiguous narratives about his
disappearance have been adopted by artists over time as a great source of information.

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Works Cited
Bierce, Ambrose. Ambrose Bierce’s Civil War. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2015.
Bierce, Ambrose. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing,
2019.
Bierce, Ambrose. The Private Correspondence of Ambrose Bierce: A Collection of the
Letters sent by Ambrose Bierce to his Closest Friends and Family from 1892 up until
his Disappearance in 1913-Including a Biography and a Memoir of Ambrose Bierce.
Read Books Ltd, 2017.
Nickell, Joe. Ambrose Bierce is Missing: And Other Historical Mysteries. University Press of
Kentucky, 2015.
online-literature.com. "Ambrose Bierce - Biography And Works. Search Texts, Read Online.
Discuss.." Online-literature.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 23 Jan. 2020.
poetryfoundation.org. "Ambrose Bierce | Poetry Foundation." Poetry Foundation. N.p., 2019.
Web. 23 Jan. 2020.
Pope, Bertha Clark. The Letters of Ambrose Bierce. Read Books Ltd, 2015.
Woodruff, Stuart C. The Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce. University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1964.