In Ambrose Bierce's short story ,"The Mockingbird", he uses the tragic outcome of a scouting mission to show the importance of humanity. The conflict in this story of man versus self brought the protagonist, William Grayrock, into clear realization of who he really is.
Brave, selfless, patriotic, are just a couple of character traits Private Grayrock possesses. Being a private in the Federal Army, he was willing to give up everything to win the Civil War. As he says "I have suffered myself to be complimented by my officers and envied by my comrades."(4), admired by his comrades made him happy. Praise of others can be encouraging, but also harmful. The war Private Grayrock is fighting is perhaps like the unstopping argument in his mind of what he really wants. Half of him wanted to be ". . . A boy, living in a far, fair land. . . with him at always. . . a twin brother." (4). While the other half was fighting for "The interest of the United States" (1). This unconsciousness of his mind blinded him. As his duty of guarding "The sleeping camp for whose security he was accountable with his life"(2), he fires into the spot where he hears a sound, little did he know, he fired and killed his own twin brother. At the end, guilt overwhelms him as he left the war. The ending took little words to produce as if Bierce didn't want it to overpower events that has led up to the ending, which is what is truly important in "The Mockingbird".
After reading this story and "Chickamauga", through tragic endings and the negative attitudes in the story led me to believe that Ambrose Bierce had experienced, and disliked wars. The sadness in these stories could be linked perhaps to his personal life. In conclusion, Bierce related himself to each of these characters and used his experience to create two realistic stories. .
