American Literature

The popular saying, all is fair in love and war, goes to say that anything and everything done in the name of love and war is perfectly justified.  It does not matter whether the act is morally good or not, as long as it is done for the sake of these two causes.  With this in mind, a person is reduced to doing anything in order to get what he wants the love of his life or the prize of winning in the battlefield.  Using this context holds that no one can be punished for his actions because all is fair in love and war.

The short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, contains examples of this saying.  In the story, Peyton Farquhar, a good man who came from a well to-do family, was hanged in violation of the commandants issue that any person who is not a soldier cannot pass the railroads or cause any interference to it (Bierce, 1988).  Even though Farquhar was previously a gentleman with no criminal record, he was not spared from punishment.  This suggests the truth in the statement, that indeed the rules of war apply to anyone.  In the same manner, Farquhars intent of sabotaging the railroads, though morally wrong, becomes justified because this was an act out of love for his family and his land.

In the same story, the Federal soldier who had initial thoughts on sabotaging the railroads, convinced Farquhar to do the job for him without explicitly telling him to do it (Bierce, 1988).  He knows that Farquhar is intent on protecting his land, hence he gave Farquhar an idea on how to eliminate the threat of the soldiers railroads.  There are two points to consider in the Federal scouts act.  First, his plans for sabotaging the railroads by setting it on fire is morally wrong.  This plan could have killed soldiers who are camping there and cause undue damage.  Second, his underhanded plan of convincing Farquhar to do the job for him without any accountability for himself is morally wrong, too.  True enough, his trecherous ways become fair play consistent with the statement all is fair in love and war.

Lastly, the actions of the soldiers who killed Farquhar in the story becomes justified by the statement.  In Farquhars reverie seconds before his death, he had a vision that he was able to escape into the stream and was being shot by the soldiers.  He perceived this as not being fair (Bierce, 1988).  However, with all is fair in war has set it, the soldiers can do anything to kill a convicted enemy, that includes firing at him, even though initially the punishment involved hanging only.

The statement all is fair in love and war contorts the view of morality and the truth as a person sees it fit.  Lines that separate morally good from wrong become blurred.  Truly, people will do anything for love and war.  There are no more rules to it because in the first place, who makes the rules of man but man himself.