Ambrose Bierce: Nothing matters



(Ambrose Bierce and ?)

There aren’t that many famous people in this modern era with a biography that ends like a mystery novel.  But then again, not much else about Ambrose Bierce was conventional either.

Being a descendant of William Bradford might have been the closest Bierce ever came to aligning with mainstream religion.  His Devil’s Dictionary seems aptly named for it spares none in its cynicism.  Some of his religiously-linked “definitions” are as follows:

Adherent   A follower who has not yet obtained all that he expects to get.

Bacchus  A convenient deity invented by the ancients as an excuse for getting drunk.

Clairvoyant  A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that which is invisible to her patron, namely, that he is a blockhead.

Deluge  A notable first experiment in baptism which washed away the sins (and sinners) of the world.

Evangelist  A bearer of good tidings, particularly (in a religious sense) such as assure us of our own salvation and the damnation of our neighbors.

These are actually some of his milder comments (and just think – he’s only up to the letter “e” thus far).

However, “Bitter Bierce’s” trademark attitude that “nothing matters” might have stemmed from the horrific reality of his Civil War experiences.  He was honored for his brave rescue of a fallen comrade at the Battle of Rich Mountain, fought in the hellish Battle of Shiloh, and received a serious head injury at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.  Civilian life wasn’t that much happier.  Both his sons died before him – one in a brawl, and the other of pneumonia.  He and his wife divorced, and she died a year after that.  There is much speculation that Bierce’s own life ended tragically – either by his own, or by an executioner’s hand.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce

http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/a.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bradford_(Plymouth_governor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh

Copyright June 24, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved