During the time period of Ambrose Bierce, much change was going on in the world. The country was divided. Slavery was the issue and it was causing major upheaval in the United States. There was serious political turmoil surrounding slavery, and it resulted in states seceding from the Union. The American Civil War was then fought, and thousands of people were killed or injured. After the war, the nation was trying to rebuild what was lost. Many people had lost so much in the war, such as loved ones, land, homes, and money. This was a time of sadness and loss.
The Civil War, more than any other event, influenced Bierce's writing. Bierce enlisted in the Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment at the beginning of the war (Wikipedia.org). He fought in many different battles during his time in the army. The encounters he had during the war, only added to his cynical nature. He was very affected by the things he did, saw, and heard during the war. These experiences overflowed into his writings. In a letter to a friend during the war, he wrote, "Since leaving Cleveland, Tennessee, my brigade has lost nearly one third its numbers killed and wounded. Among these were so many good men who could ill be spared from the army and the world. And yet I am left" (Joshi and Schultz, 1). Bierce seems to be saying that he doesn't think of himself as a good person, and wondered why all these men are dying and not him. This truly illustrates his cynicism. I think it shows that he has low self esteem and that he is not worthy to live, when others all around him are dying. He wrote so many short stories about the Civil War. These stories were mostly "anti-war satires, emphasizing the brutality and human wreckage of war" (Hopkins, 12). In the story, A Son of the Gods, he writes, "All these hardened and impenitent man-killers, to whom death in its awfulest forms is a fact familiar to their every-day observation ;"( Bierce, 60). This passage exemplifies Bierce's disposition about the war. Men are turned into shameless killers and where killing because routine. At the end of the story, Bierce writes, "Ah, those many, many needless dead!" (Bierce,67) This statement to me shows that Bierce believes that many died in the Civil War pointlessly, and this only adds to his cynicism. Many of his Civil War stories depict this theme of dying pointlessly. In One Officer, One Man, the main character, Captain Graffenreid, needlessly kills himself because he is scared. Private Jeremy Searing is pointlessly killed in the short story, One of the Missing. Bierce's sardonic nature also comes out in this story when he has Jeremy's brother unknowingly discover his body. His first hand knowledge about tactics used in the Civil War and about the daily hardships of being a soldier comes across in these stories and so many of his other Civil War stories.
Bierce married his wife, Mary Ellen "Mollie" Day, on December 25, 1871 (Wikipedia.org). His marriage also influenced his writing in several ways. To Thee My Darling and Seranade where love poems that Bierce wrote to his future bride while they were dating, (Grenandar, xiv). His love for her is evident in Seranade when he writes,
Of woman's lore give me no more
Than how to love,--in many
A tongue men brawl: she speaks them all
Who says "I love," in any.
Later on in Bierce's marriage, he discovers love letter from another man to his wife. Eventually this led to them being legally separated in 1888 and consequently divorced in 1904 (Wikipedia.org). Already a cynical man, his stormy marriage and the demise of it added to his bitterness. This showed in his writings. His poetry that he wrote about his wife changed. It is said that the poem, Onieromancy, reflects his feelings about his wife at this time:
I fell asleep and dreamed that I
Was flung, like Vlucan, from the sky;
Like him, was lamed-another part:
His leg was crippled, and my heart.
I woke in time to see my love
Conceal a letter in her glove.
This poem clearly states how he was hurt by the discovery of the letters his wife had received. His views about marriage can also be seen in the poem, Understated:
"I'm sorry I married," says Upton Sinclair:
"The conjugal status is awful!-
The devil's device, a delusion and snare."
Worse, far worse than that-it is lawful!
This poem, while amusing, clearly shows a pattern with his other writings that marriage is the deplorable. In The Devil's Dictionary, he included several definitions that support this. For example the definition he gave for wedding was: "A ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable". Other definitions found in The Devil's Dictionary that lend credibility are his definitions for love and happiness: "Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder; Happiness, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another". Ambrose Bierce's failed marriage only added fuel to his sarcasm and cynicism.
All writers are influenced by the world around them. Ambrose Bierce is no exception. The events in Ambrose Bierce's life helped shape his bitter and cynical writing style. While his bitterness about life started early on, it continued to grow by the events in his life. The most influential event was his service in the Army. His experiences on the battlefield had a major effect on his perception of the Civil War and added to his pessimism. Additionally, the turmoil in his marriage, which led to divorce, also shaped who he was as a writer. Ambrose Bierce is forever known for his scornful and disparaging writing style. If he had been raised in a wealthy family, during a different era, and had a loving marriage, then he would not have been able to create such bitter and cynical pieces of literature.
