An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Warfare Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth, and he chafed under the inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction. (2.1)

The narrator's tone seems to hint that Farquhar's understanding of war and the "larger life of a soldier" is naïve and overly simplistic.

Quote #5

No service was too humble for him to perform in the aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war. (2.1)

In Farquhar's case, accepting such a "villainous dictum" results in dying by that dictum. Is it fair for a civilian to be hanged without a trial? In war, apparently, it is.