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Post by wireman on Jun 8, 2022 12:08:20 GMT
Today, we will discuss The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce
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Post by wireman on Jun 8, 2022 17:43:05 GMT
This is a short and grim tale about grief and guilt. Murlock isolated himself after his wife died and we find out at the end of the story why. He blamed himself for the horrifying way his wife actually died after he thought she was already gone. The story shows how quickly things can change in life. Murlock and his wife were happy and hopeful and that suddenly turned to  .
I read an online analysis of this story and thought this was an interesting thought. (I would name the author of this quote but no name was given)
It may also be important that the narrator never names nor never knew Murlock’s wife’s name. It is possible that by omitting this information Bierce is suggesting that so many people who traveled to the frontier to better their lives have long been forgotten. Their efforts, along with their aspirations of a better life no longer remembered by those who came after. As is often the case with pioneers they are long forgotten after they have led the way for others. Time and progress does not record their names. It might also be a case that Bierce is suggesting that there are many pioneer women who have not had their input into frontier life properly recorded.
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Post by spideyman on Jun 9, 2022 1:02:48 GMT
This story deals with death, seclusion,hopelessness and guilt. Excellent point wireman, about how quickly things can change in life. Murlock remains in the past. I feel he was dependent on his wife. When she died it was if his own life ended.
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Post by edwardjohn on Jun 9, 2022 21:18:39 GMT
An awesome short story with a classic, Lovecraftian final scare at the end. Lovecraft was a master of that, having the final sentence of the story be the main, terrifying scare, and Bierce is very much also an advocate of that; An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (which we did and was excellent) is another example of that. I notice that a lot of horror stories in this period often concerned a tale told by another, which he in turn got from someone else; it makes the reader question which parts may be fact or fiction, which parts have been embellished in the telling, as they often are. That's what makes that final scare so great, you don't know if it really occurred or not, and that plays into the scare, hinting at the supernatural, I find, can often be far more effective than confirming its existence, if done well. I like how Bierce also takes the trope of the time of telling the story piece by piece, not in order; its very different from how most stories, especially horror stories, today are done.
My interpretation of the story is that its all about the unknown. The frontiersman are in a strange, new world; they don't have all the answers. Civilisation hasn't been set up in the USA at this period in time as it was elsewhere in the world, there was a lot of rural country; yes, there were the natives and the British colonies on the west-coast, but there were great sways of land which were not habited. Its this idea of the unknown, the totally new that comes to me in this story. This story wouldn't have occurred anywhere else, for example, had Murlock taken his wife to civilisation, then he would have known about the fever, and there wouldn't have been a panther at the end!
I was wondering what the significance of the Panther at the end was. I came across this:
In mythology
The grace and power of the cougar have been widely admired in the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Inca city of Cusco is reported to have been designed in the shape of a cougar, and the animal also gave its name to both Inca regions and people. The Moche people represented the cougar often in their ceramics. The sky and thunder god of the Inca, Viracocha, has been associated with the animal.
In North America, mythological descriptions of the cougar have appeared in the stories of the Hocąk language ("Ho-Chunk" or "Winnebago") of Wisconsin and Illinois and the Cheyenne, amongst others. To the Apache and Walapai of the Southwestern United States, the wail of the cougar was a harbinger of death. The Algonquins and Ojibwe believe that the cougar lived in the underworld and was wicked, whereas it was a sacred animal among the Cherokee.
Again, this idea of not knowing; being settlers, Murlock wasn't as aware of his surroundings as the natives, he was far from the western civilisation that he knew. He was now in a land that favoured the legend and not the fact.
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Post by edwardjohn on Jun 9, 2022 21:20:58 GMT
Bierce was actually a lieutenant in the Union Army during the Civil War; he was a member of the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Check out this list of battles, via Wikipedia, that he was involved him. Insane!
American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (West Virginia), Battle of Laurel Mountain, Battle of Rich Mountain, Battle of Corrick's Ford, Battle of Cheat Mountain, Battle of Greenbrier River, Battle of Camp Allegheny, Battle of Shiloh, Siege of Corinth, Battle of Perryville, Battle of Stones River, Battle of Chickamauga, Chattanooga Campaign, Battle of Lookout Mountain, Battle of Missionary Ridge, Battle of Resaca, Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta Campaign, Battle of Jonesborough, Battle of Franklin (1864), Battle of Nashville
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Post by wireman on Jun 10, 2022 12:29:59 GMT
Next Wednesday, we will discuss The Judge's House by Bram Stoker
It's supposed to be a good one.
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Post by wolf on Jun 10, 2022 15:44:49 GMT
An awesome short story with a classic, Lovecraftian final scare at the end. Lovecraft was a master of that, having the final sentence of the story be the main, terrifying scare, and Bierce is very much also an advocate of that; An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (which we did and was excellent) is another example of that. I notice that a lot of horror stories in this period often concerned a tale told by another, which he in turn got from someone else; it makes the reader question which parts may be fact or fiction, which parts have been embellished in the telling, as they often are. That's what makes that final scare so great, you don't know if it really occurred or not, and that plays into the scare, hinting at the supernatural, I find, can often be far more effective than confirming its existence, if done well. I like how Bierce also takes the trope of the time of telling the story piece by piece, not in order; its very different from how most stories, especially horror stories, today are done.
My interpretation of the story is that its all about the unknown. The frontiersman are in a strange, new world; they don't have all the answers. Civilisation hasn't been set up in the USA at this period in time as it was elsewhere in the world, there was a lot of rural country; yes, there were the natives and the British colonies on the west-coast, but there were great sways of land which were not habited. Its this idea of the unknown, the totally new that comes to me in this story. This story wouldn't have occurred anywhere else, for example, had Murlock taken his wife to civilisation, then he would have known about the fever, and there wouldn't have been a panther at the end!
I was wondering what the significance of the Panther at the end was. I came across this:
In mythology
The grace and power of the cougar have been widely admired in the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Inca city of Cusco is reported to have been designed in the shape of a cougar, and the animal also gave its name to both Inca regions and people. The Moche people represented the cougar often in their ceramics. The sky and thunder god of the Inca, Viracocha, has been associated with the animal.
In North America, mythological descriptions of the cougar have appeared in the stories of the Hocąk language ("Ho-Chunk" or "Winnebago") of Wisconsin and Illinois and the Cheyenne, amongst others. To the Apache and Walapai of the Southwestern United States, the wail of the cougar was a harbinger of death. The Algonquins and Ojibwe believe that the cougar lived in the underworld and was wicked, whereas it was a sacred animal among the Cherokee.
Again, this idea of not knowing; being settlers, Murlock wasn't as aware of his surroundings as the natives, he was far from the western civilisation that he knew. He was now in a land that favoured the legend and not the fact. WUITIIQGUyMrvFxIgkNw |
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