Imagery In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Destined For a Dark Ending
Proper imagery is a form of figurative language that is crucial for a good story. If an author truly wants to engage their reader, they have to be able to paint a picture of the world their story is taking place in. In addition to adding details that are crucial for the reader to grasp, good imagery in unique scenarios can even give more information then what is directly given at the moment. In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” author Ambrose Bierce uses vivid and intentional imagery to not only hold the readers attention, but also to elude future to man’s future. Bierce is notorious for using specific imagery in his writing, as it also adds to the American realism that is expressed in his works.

This prose is a clear example of how he enter twines strong American realism imagery with the intentionality to foreshadow.
American realism can be defined as a literary movement to describe life without added idealism or romanticism. This means that literature written under this umbrella does not paint a picture of wonder and cheerfulness. Instead, the works are more to the point while focusing on the flaws of social conditions. In “ An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Ambrose Bierce does not sugarcoat the situation that is at hand. In addition, instead of focusing on the characters and giving them elaborate qualities, he is more descriptive towards the surroundings. Although he does describe the main character, he does not give him outlandish qualities and paints him as any ordinary man (Bierce 399). However he does mention that he was a “well to do planter” which implies he is from the upper middle class. In American Realism, this class of society is written about most frequently.In addition, Bierce is criticizing the social condition of conflict of war as gives the reader a blunt description of the dark and destructive wreckage it leaves its path. This is shown in the civilian family that just lost a husband and father in Peyton Farquhar (405).
As this short story progresses, the casual reader might get the feel that there could be romanticism at the end after all.

However, if one minds the specific and very unique imagery Bierce uses, the reader will note that Peyton Farquhar’s fate was sealed the moment the noose was hung around his neck. At the beginning Bierce writes “A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword down”(399). This act of respect from one soldier to another as he passes is blatant foreshadowing. In chapter III, Farquhar is awakened by an unexplainable “sharp pressure around his throat, followed by the sense of suffocation”(401). Although he thinks he is magically free, in reality he is hallucinating as the life is slowly strangled out of him by the noose around his throat. These are just two of the numerous examples of foreshadowing imagery Bierce is known for.
The right imagery can be pivotal for a writer as they try to express the idea they hold within their mind. In addition, imagery can also hold deep and significant meanings that go beyond what is occurring on the paper. In the prose entitled “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” author Ambrose Bierce uses specific imagery to serve two purposes. The first is to portray his work as American realism literature as he criticizes the condition of war and its effect on the upper middle class. The second is to allude to the dark and tragic ending that is awaiting the stories hero as he slowly loses suffocates to

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