An_Occurence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge

An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge What makes Ambrose Bierce a realist Author "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" can be considered a work of realism for two reasons. The first is Bierce's utilization of his own military background giving this story a sense of realism. Bierce also conveys his pessimism after leading the reader to believe otherwise. This story provides social critique of the south during the Civil War. Bierce goes to great lengths to describe the opening sequence in terms of its military arrangement. He provides brilliant images of group formations and soldier stances like "a single company of infantry in line, at 'parade rest' the butts of the rifles on the ground, the barrels inclining backward against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock". He also takes the time to describe exactly how fortified the Owl Creek Bridge is. He shows his military experience by describing a road that stretches out of site and assuming that "Doubtless there was an outpost farther along". The procedures of a military execution were explained thoroughly including the code of conduct: "In the code of military manners silence and fixity are forms of deference". Bierce earned the nickname "Bitter Bierce” early in his life for his peyton, bierce, wife, military, first, escape, soldier, part, neck, creek, bridge, work, story, south, shows, show, pessimism, owl, out, order, finally, farquhar's, family, execution, cause, author, army, writing, willing, while, upon, two, trees, tongue, stars, southern, social, single, silence, serve, sequence, seeing, rope, reveals, reference, realist, realism, reader, rather, provides, own