Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis

1237 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical review of amborse bierce's occurrence at the owl creek bridge

It is common for different writers and filmmakers to place tension into their own works in order to inspire different characters into action or to get certain events to occur. In Ambrose Bierce’s short novel, “An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Bierce makes sure to include this tension surrounding Peyton Farquhar and regarding his hanging using vivid descriptions. At the end of the story, it is revealed in a twist ending that his “escape” was just an illusion and he had really been hung. Robert Enrico’s short film adaptation, An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, tries to portray and imitate the tension that was stored in Bierce’s piece. Subsequently, Enrico attempts to show this tension visually and audibly, and uses different camera shots and …show more content…

In addition to the lack of overall sounds, Enrico does not place any music or major dialogue towards the beginning, where only noises made by nature can be heard. This immediately increases the solemnity of the situation, which increases the tension set by the almost-complete lack of sound. There is no dialogue in the film aside from Farquhar saying his wife’s name in a flashback and the Union soldiers, which ended up being imagined by Farquhar anyways. The soundtrack used by Enrico is quite short, and had also reflected upon the range of emotions felt by Farquhar like close up shots. However, the distortion of the voices singing certain songs such as “Livin’ Man” increase one’s stress level in accordance with Farquhar’s. The ticking of a clock, which ends up being Farquhar’s watch, gradually slowed down and became more distorted, which was meant to distort the dimensions of time in Farquhar’s mind as he dreams up an ideal scenario. This distortion of sound contributes to the overall tension of the film as it leaves the audience to find out what is occuring with the distortion of the music and sounds heard. Through the variety of sounds with the lack of aspects such as dialogue, Enrico is able to encapsulate the tension of the silence and the imagined scenario indicated in Bierce’s story

Show More
Related

  • An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge: A Manipulation of Time

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, which is a short story released in 1890, gained much popularity over the years. It is most famous for it’s manipulation of time. Though the events in the book only take seconds, the story is over eight pages long. Time seems to slow for the man in the noose and at the same time speed up for the reader. In this way, Bierce presents his manipulation of time in the story.

    Read More

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce Analytical Paper

    1863 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Baybrook, “Peyton Farquhar believes -- as do the readers -- that he has escaped execution and, under heavy gunfire, has made his way back home” (Baybrook). One of Bierce’s main means to achieve this goal of forcing the reader to buy into his delusion is ‘time’. Because ‘time’ is utilized to calibrate human experiences, it becomes obscure, altered and split in times of extreme emotional disturbance. The time that is required for hanging Farquar seems to be indefinite, however, Bierce goes the extra mile and indicates that there is a certain ‘treshold of death’ that lingers beyond recognition. When it is exceeded, it results in a distorted and blurred pe...

    Read More

  • Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bierce broke this story down into three parts. The first part of the narrative creates an atmosphere with the setting at Owl Creek Bridge. Great detail is told here as to who is present at the scene, what is happening, what the scene looks like, etc. But the reader only receives ideas and thoughts from one person, Peyton Farquar. The first part as like the other two parts of this story is written very systematically and clear. Even with such a structured set up, the author still manages to put great anticipation and fearsome emotion into the near end of the first part of this story. At this point the author makes the reader think Peyton is devising a way to set his hands free from the rope thereby beginning his journey to escape home.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Realism In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    1325 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” brings upon many questions relating to its change in perspectives and the focus on the character. The story is classified as realism based on the fact that the author, Bierce, focuses more on the character than the plot itself. Readers worry about the characters hanging, not about the war and the chicanery used by both opponents. Bierce also uses a change in perspective throughout the story to show emphasis on the character and his thoughts. The change alters the reality in the readers minds, in a way they truly believe that he will survive the hanging and escape free to his family. Sadly, that wouldn’t have given readers the opportunity to classify it as realism and it wouldn’t have given Bierce the chance to show the readers the way our brains play tricks on us.

    Read More

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is true that in all great literature. Clues which later seem obvious are often undetected until the story’s plot is resolved. The reader is unaware of the foreshadowing until the plot comes together. Ambrose Bierces " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and " A Horseman In The Sky" identify literary elements supporting this thought.

    Read More

  • An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    People can easily recognize that a butterfly, a horse, or a tree are alive and that a

    Read More

  • Styles of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge versus The Tell Tale Heart

    481 Words  | 1 Pages

    The authors, Ambrose Bierce of 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and Edger Allan Poe of 'The Tell Tale Heart' have unique styles to pull the reader into the story. Both authors use unreliable narrator and imagery to allow the reader to picture and follow the narrator's way of thinking. In the Tell Tale Heart, the man is very repetitious and his psychotic behavior is what intrigues the overall dark madness of The Tell Tale Heart. In Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Bierce uses illusions to allow the reader to follow wherever his ideas lead which also intrigues the overall dark madness effect.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Illusion And Reality In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a story of illusion, decision, and fate. It presents one with a very powerful scenario - one that questions the protagonist 's ultimate destiny, and the concept of good vs. evil. It defines the grey area of deeds by which most humans live, and uses powerful thematic concepts and devices to convey the author 's own value while leaving some space for the reader to make their own choice. Furthermore, this story discusses the life of a man who ended up on the wrong side of history, humanizing yet criminalizing him for his beliefs. This can all be attributed to a wide array of symbols and interactions- all which support the theme of illusion vs. reality. The complex thematic value of this piece stems from multiple aspects – the most important of which are the bridge through both its literal and symbolic meaning, the colour grey in all its depth and broad variations, the essence of time in all of its distortion, and the story 's style of writing.

    Read More

  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reading and understanding literature is not as easy as it sounds. Being able to dissect each piece of information and connect it to the overall theme of the story takes lots of rereading and critical thinking. Reading the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” takes lots of critical thinking and understanding the literature in a different point of view than the average reader would. The theme of this particular story quickly came to mind after initially concluding the reading, the author is trying to convey that nobody can escape death and how thoughts in the mind are so substantial in the consciousness that it can take over the reality. The author comes to this theme by incorporating specific literary elements such a symbol, irony, and narration. These are important because they make up the theme by bringing the necessary elements together.

    Read More

  • An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Literary Analysis

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the fictional short story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” the author Ambrose Bierce does a superior job of making the mind of a reader wonder. Throughout the story, the reader is able to watch and experience the hanging of a local plantation owner Peyton Farquhar. The story contains three parts that show the present, a flash back to the past, and into an altered reality of Farquhar’s “getaway.” The story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” demonstrates the theme of how the nature of time is free-flowing. Bierce uses three elements of fiction to successfully support the story in its free flow of time. Ambrose Bierce uses the setting, point of view, and plot structure to help organize the theme and the story’s unique elements.

    Read More

  • How Does Bierce Use Irony In An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

    338 Words  | 1 Pages

    Bierce Used Literary Technique to Maintain Suspense. A man stood on a bridge waiting and trying to forget about his death. In this essay, Bierce uses a lot of suspense in the story of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. Bierce used literary technique to maintain suspense in his short story.

    Read More

  • Goodfellas Sound Essay

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the camera zooms in on Conway and DeVito's faces, nothing but the thumping sound and crickets fill the space. All the characters seem worried, but not frightened. Balazs also explains the phenomenon of silence in a sound film and how it’s vastly different than no sound at all. He states that the “physiognomy of men is more intense when they are silent” (Balazs 119). In this example, the silence makes the scene a very tense environment. Even though the audience is not aware of the exact situation, they conclude that there’s a feeling of uneasiness within the characters about what is in the trunk. The film achieves this by adding silence to the scene to emphasize the emotions the characters are feeling. A film without sound cannot perfectly reproduce this effect. The dramatic effect that comes from silence in a sound film wouldn't be apparent because there is less of an emotional impact on the viewer. Balazs argues that you cannot experience silence by hearing nothing. Instead, you experience silence when you “can hear every distant sounds in a very large space” (Balazs 118). In this scene, the experience of silence is executed by including sounds of crickets and the thumping of the trunk. While sound has not been completely eliminated, the absence of sound, going from inside the car to outside it, is a dramatic difference and very clear to the audience. This contrast completely changes the

    Read More

  • Perceptions in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and The Story of an Hour

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "The Story of an Hour," the authors use similar techniques to create different tones, which in turn illicit very distinct reactions from the reader. Both use a third person narrator with a limited omniscient point of view to tell of a brief, yet significant period of time. In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce uses this method to create an analytical tone to tell the story of Farquhar's experience just before death. In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin uses this method to create an involved, sympathetic tone to relay the story of Mrs. Mallard's experience just before death. These stories can be compared on the basis of their similar points of view and conclusions as well as their different tones.

    Read More

  • An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Conflict Essay

    405 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” the main conflict is between the character Peyton Farquhar and death. Although the conflict appears to be between Farquhar and the Federal soldiers, Farquhar is trying to escape death brought by the soldiers. At the end of the story, it is revealed the rope around Farquhar’s neck never snapped and he never escaped. This resolution was, however, prepared for by several images earlier in the story.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of An Occurrence At Owl Bridge

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is it possible for there to be more than one reality, or more than one truth, yet have both still be correct? In An Occurrence at Owl Bridge, it seems this may be the case. Written by Ambrose Bierce, this short story tells the tale of Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate, who is tricked by the Unionists into attempting to burn their bridge. When he fails, the Unionists are given an excuse to hang him. The catch comes when the noose breaks, and Farquhar stumbles home. Just as he is about to embrace his wife, however, he is drawn back to reality by the snap of his neck: “Peyton Fahrquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge”.

    Read More

More about Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis

Open Document