How Does Bierce Use Imagery In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is about a man, Peyton Farhquhar, who is getting hanged but fell into a river. He swims while dodging bullets, and manages to get out and into a forest. He walks through the night and to his house to see his wife. However, right before he gets to his wife he dies. Bierce uses imagery and symbolism to reveal that peaceful hallucinations in difficult situations can make pain a little easier.
The imagery Bierce utilized revealed that in order to make pain a little easier in difficult situations, peaceful hallucinations can assist. The narrator describes the scenery and setting of the area around Peyton Farhquhar before his hanging. However as Farhquhar escapes his hanging, the narrator describes in great detail the landscape that he travels through. The narrator described, “As he pushes open the gate and passes up the wide white walk, he sees a flutter of female garments...an attitude of matchless grace and dignity”

(Bierce, 6).

As Farhquhar opens the gate, he sees his wife at the bottom of the steps waiting for him with a big smile across her face. This means that a peaceful place for Peyton was his house and seeing his wife. As Peyton is dying he imagines his wife and home which helps make the pain of his death a little less painful. This also means that because Peyton was dying and hallucinating something to give him peace, he was able to die with serenity and calm. This matters because sometimes when people die it can be extremely stressful for them and the people around them. Being able to know that a loved one died while thinking about something they loved, could assist in giving people

closure.
Peyton Farhquhar just escaped his hanging and the officers started shooting at him. However Peyton swam along in the river until he reached shore. The narrator explains, “In few moments he was flung upon the gravel at the foot of the left bank of the stream — the southern bank — and behind a projecting point which concealed him from his enemies. The sudden arrest of his motion, the abrasion of one of his hands on the gravel, restored him, and he wept with delight” (Bierce, 5). Peyton Fahrquhar just narrowly escaped being shot by the officers and is thrown onto the Southern river bank. He wept from joy because he made it out of the river without being shot. He would now be on his way to go home to his wife and kids. This means the journey Farhquhar endured to get back home symbolised the course of his death. The escape of the hanging in his hallucination symbolised Farhqhar just starting to get hanged. When he was getting shot at in the river, during his hallucination, symbolised Peyton struggling for breath during his hanging. In his hallucination, once he reached the river bank symbolised Farhquhar fainting. On his way to his house in his hallucination, symbolised Peyton approaching death. Once he reached his wife in his hallucination, symbolised that Peyton was at peace when he died. This matters because it symbolises that death isn’t always as peaceful as some people may think. The journey that Peyton Farhquhar endured represents that death can be a timely process and it can be a journey for one to become tranquil before they cross over. Peyton Farhquhar revealed to readers that death is a system that takes time and it also has it’s own set of difficulties. As revealed by Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” peaceful hallucinations can help a difficult situation be less painful. Death is something that happens to everyone and everyone dies in a different way through different journeys.