I recovered many good sources for my project on Ambrose Bierce. But it seems to me that one fact all of my sources included was his ultimate source for his stories--his time in the Civil War. Many people receive inspiration from their surroundings. Most of them happen to be good, though. Bierce’s writings all stemmed from one point in his life. And had he not enlisted in the army, we might not even know who he is today. I believe that due to his macabre past and cynical views on life, Bierce’s style had a large effect on America and its young writers.

Bierce had two very distinct tools for impacting the world of literature. His first was his style of harsh realistic war stories inspired by his own time spent in the Civil War. This event was the direct influence of some of his best known stories. They told of battles and misfortunes which Bierce saw as the way of the world. Soon after his struggles in the war, he was married. But a bitter relationship would soon land him into a nasty and lengthy separation that ultimately led to a divorce. This planted more seeds of harsh realism in his mind and also his works. Not much later, he lost his two sons, which it seems were his favorite children. It would seem this man was plagued by reality and just how cruel it could be. This reality, though, is the reason we have such stories as “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “Chickamauga.” Who knew such morbid experiences could fuse together and unveil such intriguing stories?

The next tool used by Bierce was his biting wit and sarcasm. He is probably most famous for his Devil’s Dictionary, which took words and gave them a bitter and devilish yet sometimes a brutally accurate definition. Bierce was also known for his outspoken opinions of other writers which he wrote in critiques in many newspaper columns. Bierce blossomed in the failure of other writers by reporting it to the world. Some were quite harsh and ruined their careers. It is said that when Bierce moved to Washington D.C. for a brief period , “the entire capitol ran for cover.” Bierce also felt that people blamed life and ideas for their misfortunes. He believed that it was not sin, but the sinner who was harmful to our lives. He also stated, “I am for preserving the ancient, primitive distinction between right and wrong.” These are some points that Bierce felt strongly about and wrote about often (Landry).

One famous author that received blunt criticism from Bierce was Stephen Crane. After Crane’s story The Red Badge of Courage was published, Bierce remarked, “I had thought there could only be two worse writers than Stephen Crane, namely, two Stephen Cranes” (Pegasos, par. 1). Who knows, maybe that is what halted Crane’s career as a writer. Could he have possibly been more famous if Bierce would not have been so critical? Either way, I feel it was Bierce’s cynical thinking and previous war experiences that have influenced so many. Following in a path similar to Edgar Alan Poe and Edwin Arlington Robinson, Bierce gave the country a twist on the usual writing and made it more interesting to be alive.