A revaluation of the literary reputation of Ambrose Bierce

The reputation of Ambrose Bierce, journalist and short-story writer of the last half of the nineteenth century, has rested, for the most part, on the satire in his journalism. Bierce's caustic, vitriolic wit, illustrated most brilliantly in his Devil's Dictionary, has delighted many readers since Bierce first startled San Francisco with his "Town Crier" columns in 1868. His reputation as a journalist was made before he began writing short-stories; consequently, when, twenty years after the Civil War, Bierce recalled war experiences in his short-stories, the public considered the tales as only secondary to his "Prattle" and journalistic writing. In view of the good Bierce accomplished through his columns - such as defeating the Southern Pacific Railway funding bill - this subordination of his short-stories might have been justified during his time. Such writing, however, was pertinent only as long as the situation which evoked it existed. Consequently, when considering Bierce's works today, one must look for that which has the stamp of permanency. True, many of the epigrammatic barbs in his Devil's Dictionary are as applicable today as they were when they were written, but they are barbs, flashes of wit, nothing more; they are not fully developed and, consequently, do not thoroughly satisfy the reader. The purpose of this thesis, then, has been to study Bierce's shortstories - to ascertain their qualities as worthwhile literature and to determine to what extent they reflect in Bierce a different personality from that expressed in his satirical writing. This study has shown that Bierce's stories, measured by formal short-story standards, are well- written and that Bierce's highly individualistic, impressionistic style makes them excellent stories. The study has also pointed out that these tales reflect in Bierce the elements of romanticism and realism, qualities somewhat different from the cynicism and bitterness reflected in his journalism. This revaluation of Bierce's literary reputation has concluded with the assertion that Bierce's short-stories are really his most important work and that they deserve a far more prominent place than they now hold in the development of the short-story in America.