Compare and Contrast of Editha and The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Exam 1
September 20, 2013
Word Count: 1,094
Compare and Contrast of Editha and The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
As much as these two short stories are completely different, they have many similarities. Editha and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge both present elements of anti-romanticism. These short stories give examples of idealism vs. realism and fantasy vs. reality. Both of these authors (William Dean Howells and Ambrose Bierce) show what the personalities are like of people who are realists and people who are nonetheless, preposterous. In Editha, the man she is in love with is being deployed into war. George is a realist and understands that there is no good in war and there is a very good chance he could be killed. Editha somehow looks at war as a romantic fantasy. When George revealed the news to her in the beginning of the story, it proves that Editha does not understand the dangers of war. “What is it?” she cried. “It’s war,” he said and pulled her up to him and kissed her. She kissed him back intensely, but irrelevantly, as to their passion, and uttered from deep in her throat. “How glorious!” “It’s war,” he repeated, without consenting to her sense of it (Howells 308). Throughout the novel, Editha wants him to go to war because she does not think he will get killed. She lives in a fantasy world and believes he will survive, come back to her, and live happily ever after. “Oh, George!” She clung to him sobbing. “I don’t want you to feel foolishly bound to my memory. I should hate that, wherever I happened to be”. “I am yours, for time and eternity-time and eternity.” She liked the words; they satisfied her famine for phrases (313). Once she found out George had been killed, she had to tend to his mother as she promised. Editha was extremely dramatic and wanted to be seen as a grieving widow. George was a realist and must have gotten that from his mother because his mother had no sympathy for Editha whatsoever. In the end of the story, the
September 20, 2013
Word Count: 1,094
Compare and Contrast of Editha and The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
As much as these two short stories are completely different, they have many similarities. Editha and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge both present elements of anti-romanticism. These short stories give examples of idealism vs. realism and fantasy vs. reality. Both of these authors (William Dean Howells and Ambrose Bierce) show what the personalities are like of people who are realists and people who are nonetheless, preposterous. In Editha, the man she is in love with is being deployed into war. George is a realist and understands that there is no good in war and there is a very good chance he could be killed. Editha somehow looks at war as a romantic fantasy. When George revealed the news to her in the beginning of the story, it proves that Editha does not understand the dangers of war. “What is it?” she cried. “It’s war,” he said and pulled her up to him and kissed her. She kissed him back intensely, but irrelevantly, as to their passion, and uttered from deep in her throat. “How glorious!” “It’s war,” he repeated, without consenting to her sense of it (Howells 308). Throughout the novel, Editha wants him to go to war because she does not think he will get killed. She lives in a fantasy world and believes he will survive, come back to her, and live happily ever after. “Oh, George!” She clung to him sobbing. “I don’t want you to feel foolishly bound to my memory. I should hate that, wherever I happened to be”. “I am yours, for time and eternity-time and eternity.” She liked the words; they satisfied her famine for phrases (313). Once she found out George had been killed, she had to tend to his mother as she promised. Editha was extremely dramatic and wanted to be seen as a grieving widow. George was a realist and must have gotten that from his mother because his mother had no sympathy for Editha whatsoever. In the end of the story, the