Fatherly Advice
Carter Druse announces to his father than he is going to enlist in the Union army despite being a resident of secessionist state Virginia. His father not only calls him a traitor, but also offers some paternal advice. The irony of that advice will be come too ironic too plausibly ignore or miss by the end of the story:
"Well, go, sir, and whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty. "
Ironic Realism
Upon publication of the text, many critics found fault with author for attempting to present this as a realistic portrait of the Civil War fitting in with his other realistic war stories. Ambrose Bierce built part of his reputation on crafting tales of that war as filtered through the prism of personal experience as a soldier. The story is divided into four short sections. The first section is composed almost in its entirety of a highly detailed and intensely focused prose description of topography of the geographical setting in which the event—for there really is just thing that happens—takes place. This set-up proves instantly ironic as the next two sections are dominated by imagery that attains the exact opposite effect, introducing descriptions of the man on the horse cut the ties of realism and move the story closer to the sphere of the fantastical. Those critics finding fault in this ironic realism failed to note, apparently, that nearly three decades had elapsed between the time in which the story is set and the year in which it was published. The evolution of how the country had come to regard Civil War had also moved from the grimly realistic to the fantastical, thus making the story in retrospect actually more realistic to many people than it seemed.
Taking Aim
The irony of the fatherly advice which Carter Druse received begins to take shape in his transformation from sentry guard to sniper. Having identified that what he originally mistook as a statue of a man on a horse is the real thing—a Confederate scout his training mandates he must kill without warning—Carter first goes pale, trembles and drops his head to the ground on which he lies. Then he recalls his training and that advice which is almost the last words his father ever spoke to him. This is what calms and the precision of the description of this newly acquired calm is almost too ironic to bear:
“his nerves were as tranquil as a sleeping babe's”
Timing
As previously indicated, the author himself was a soldier during the war, having volunteered at probably around the same age as Carter Druse in the same year: 1861. As a result, Bierce would certainly have known in detail the experiences afforded a 19-year-old private in the first few months of the war. Also as indicated, this story was published in 1889 by which time nearly every American alive knew about all the major battles of the war. The thing is, however, that “by autumn of the year 1861” that knowledge would have been directly at odds with accepting one aspect of the story:
“By conscience and courage, by deeds of devotion and daring, he soon commended himself to his fellows and his officers; and it was to these qualities and to some knowledge of the country that he owed his selection for his present perilous duty.”
The historical facts suggest this is almost an irrefutable impossibility as there were battle taking place in the mountain regions of Virginia by the fall of 1861 for Carter Druse to been given enough deeds of daring to establish a reputation earning the trust necessary for being assigned perilous duty. This is another case—like the introduction of fantastical elements into carefully planted realism—where the author is portraying the Civil War battlefield in an ironic way as commentary upon how social reflection of the war had changed over the course of time.
The Not-a-Twist Ending
The ultimate irony of the story is, of course, its ending, which would be termed a twist ending today. The tragic element of a song shooting his father to death in the service of duty to his country—while also following the last piece of fatherly advice extended to him—is really too deeply embedded in the historical context to label it as such. So, just consider it the final irony of the tale whenever it is referred to as a twist ending.
