Ambrose Bierce: A Realist

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Literary movements are defined by the contributed philosophies of the poets, screenwriters, and authors of a certain time period. As an editor, journalist, philosopher, and author, Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) contended the Romantic movement style in many ways, which some people considered harsh and bland. The themes of his works usually involved the brutality of war, perception of time, and reality of certain situations. Bierce used incredibly precise detail and everyday diction to depict unidealized life events to their most validity. Bierce’s life experiences aided in the creation of his Realistic philosophy and style of writing, which is ideally exemplified in his short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
The meticulous view of life that Bierce had in both his philosophy and his writings classifies him as a Realist writer. Realism is thought to have started in France in the mid 1800s as a reaction to the preceding Romanticism movement. Realism minds, similar to the philosophies of Descartes and Locke, believe that the truth should be discovered through the senses. This doctrine created Realism authors’ main focus: to express the basic truth of an experience without any artificiality or artistic conventions that altered the meaning. “In American literature, the term ‘realism’ encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century during which others wrote fiction devoted to accurate representation and an exploration of American lives in various contexts” (Campbell par. 3). Authors of this time created very precise works with scanty tangents from the real event itself. Characters in Realism writings were not extravagant people seen in the Romantic movement, but ordinary humans partaking in basic eve...

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Evans, Robert C.. "Robert C. Evans, Annotated Critical Edition of "An Occurrence at Owl
Creek Bridge"."Robert C. Evans, Annotated Critical Edition of "An Occurrence at
Owl Creek Bridge". The Ambrose Bierce Project, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
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"Fiction." : An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Fiction The Eserver Collection, n.d. Web.
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Gullette, Alan. "ABAS: The Life of Bierce."ABAS: The Life of Bierce. The Ambrose Bierce
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Peers, Michele. "Ambrose Bierce." Intro To The Short Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2014.
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