Two Humanitarianisms in Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

Abstract

Witt begins by observing that although the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is often anthologized and has long been a staple of high school curricula and the subject of music videos, television, and film, it is not typically thought of as a study in the dilemmas of humanitarian law. But, Witt argues, it is just that. The story depicts an execution for violation of the laws of war. Its author was a Union Army veteran. Moreover, the text embodies a central tension in the laws of war, one that emerged in Bierce’s time and persists today. On the one hand stands a sentimental humanitarianism that aims to minimize the human suffering of war. On the other, a righteous humanitarianism chafes at the constraints that sentimental humanitarianism places on the pursuit of justice. Witt demonstrates that Bierce’s “Owl Creek” straddles the two planks of the modern laws of war, conveying the power of both views.