Historical and Cultural Connections – Introduction to Realism

Vocabulary

The Rise of Realism in America

The Realism era in American literature is the time period that jolted America out of the idealistic Romantic era. Life became less about exploring the individual sense of identity or connecting with nature and more about everyday struggles. Because of rising political and social conflict between the northern and southern states, the United States was on the brink of a war that would forever change the course of American history. Writers started taking a closer look at ordinary people; they started writing about the reality of their everyday lives. View this presentation for a brief overview of the rise of Realism to learn about some of the movement's contributing factors.

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As enslaved people became free, other individuals suffered from war, and still other men and women struggled to forge a new frontier. With this activity, the American voice grew louder and more varied. The American Dream was happening everywhere and in ways many never thought possible. Thousands of diaries, letters, and speeches were produced during this time period, and hundreds of writers, having been influenced by these vast changes, spoke out. Times of change are always reflected in the written word, and never had this been more evident in American literature.

The harsh realities of life gave rise to the Realism movement. Authors grew new styles from their surroundings, but they all gave voice to a sense of reality. Mark Twain wrote about life on the Mississippi River while Jack London wrote about life on the Alaskan frontier. Frederick Douglass gave voice to African Americans in their search for freedom. Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton wrote about a changing social structure and the battles women faced. Ambrose Bierce, a farm boy from Indiana, wrote about war. These writers, and many more, wrote in distinctive styles that reflected their lives as Americans and also painted the reality of life, beautifully and epically.

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce grew up on a farm in Indiana but left in his teens to attend a military academy in Kentucky. Bierce joined the army as a Union soldier, fought in several major battles, and was awarded for bravery. After the war, he settled in San Francisco, but there is no doubt that his writing would be irrevocably influenced by his wartime experiences. As a journalist and then editor, he was known for having a pointed, malicious journalistic style yet was seen as a charming and magnetic figure in person. In addition to satire and literary review, Bierce also published short stories, many of which were dark representations of life and war. He was a success professionally, but his personal life was not happy. His marriage ended in divorce, his two sons died at early ages, and while in Mexico covering a civil war, Bierce mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

Literature Analysis

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is not only one of Bierce's most popular works but also one of the most influential short stories of 19th century American literature. Readers during Bierce's time would have easily identified with the character Peyton Farquhar and the setting of the Civil War. Using his experience as a soldier, Bierce makes his narrative realistic and believable with his portrayal of the soldiers and their military protocols. The description of the protagonist's execution and escape are so vivid and detailed—from the volley of bullets that whiz by in the turbulent waters of the cold stream to the maddening ticking of the watch—that the reader experiences every physical, visual, and emotional aspect along with the character, which makes the surprise ending even more jolting. In Bierce's story, the protagonist escapes his execution and makes his way to the safe haven of his home and the loving arms of his wife, only to perish upon breaking his neck in the hangman's noose and revealing to the reader that the story's reality is much more bleak than it at first appeared. Many works of literature, music, and film from around the world have since emulated the concept of dual realities in which the truth of the story is revealed toward the plot's end to be different than what is first believed. More contemporary examples of this can be found in Julio Cortázar's "La noche boca arriba" ("The Night Face Up"), Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain," and M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense.

Another aspect that makes "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" so innovative for its time—and likewise emulated by other artists—is the condensing of many plot events into a single instance. The field of psychology has numerous case studies of people experiencing the slowing of time, especially during traumatic events. For example, you may have heard anecdotal accounts of people witnessing an accident occurring as if in slow motion. The fact that Peyton Farquhar hallucinates his entire escape and arrival to his home in the mere seconds it takes him to fall from the bridge and break his neck is not as far from reality as it seems.

If "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" had been written fifty years prior during the Romanticism era, the ending may have involved an escape by Peyton Farquhar into the wild forest and away from war or perhaps a struggle against a supernatural force rather than the military from the opposing side of a civil conflict. However, Bierce's story is characteristic of the Realism movement due to its embrace of themes reflecting real-life problems. Everyone had to choose a side during the Civil War, and countless people suffered and died. Bierce's character Peyton Farquhar is no exception, a victim of the harsh and cruel reality of a war that engulfed a country and left its survivors to pick up the broken pieces.

 

Realism Review

Now that you have explored the Realism literary movement, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Read each question and select the appropriate answer. Click on the player button to get started.