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Essay on the use of a single literary device in an occurrence on owl creek bridge
The importance of an occurance at owl creek bridge
Essay on the use of a single literary device in an occurrence on owl creek bridge
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge: An American Dream Bierce is An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Is an impeccable story that takes place during the civil war. The story is both mesmerizing and mysterious. It is based the execution of a Southern farmer and Confederate spy and slave owner named Peyton Farquhar, who dedicated his life to the “southern cause (p.317)”. After being tricked by another spy into trying to burn the bridge, Farquhar found himself in a place where no one could save him. He was caught by the union army for breaking the law. Farquhar was on the verge of being executed not by gun, but by one of the most tragic way; by hanging. As he was being executed, he fell into the illusion of escaping death in an accident but exhilarated …show more content…
way. In his fantasy, he imagined the rope around his broke and he fell in the water; he untied his hand and started running. Farquhar saw himself running through the woods toward his house, and that is when he felt something on his neck, he became aware of where he was. His escape was merely a dream; he had hoped to live another day, but unfortunately it was all an illusion of his desire. The author stated that Farquhar was a spy in the confederate army, which was “the armed force of the Confederate States of America during The Civil War. Bierce used Historical theory by telling the readers about Farquhar is job and in what army, he gives the readers an idea of the time the story took place. Although it was up to the readers to figure that out, nevertheless, Bierce merely stated that Farquhar was a soldier in the confederate army: an army that was formed to fight against the abolishment of slavery during President Lincoln is administration. “Later in the war, increasing numbers of Federal soldiers fought to abolish slavery, if for no other reason than to end the war quickly. Confederate soldiers sometimes fought because they feared the Union victory would result in a society where black people were placed on an even footing with whites.” After they lost the war, the civil war stopped. “Interpretations of the story have generally regarded the surprise of the ending structurally, and have discussed how the reader is lured into believing Farquhar's escape by: an ideal and patently sentimentalized vision of Peyton Farquhar's imagined reunion with his wife and home, and by a series of narrative devices that confuse Farquhar's subjective experience with objective description. But, the simultaneity of knowledge and mystification produced in the story's crucial third section is deftly arranged by Bierce in a very different manner as well. Details of Farquhar's death by hanging persistently intersect with much of the description of his apparent journey, a journey that is actually a distortion of the sensation of hanging and not merely a disengaged reverie of his escape from it.” During his fleet, he could hear the general giving orders to the sentinels to shoot him: Company! . . . Attention! . . . Shoulder arms! . . . Ready! . . . Aim! . . . Fire! “Suddenly he heard a sharp report and something struck the water smartly within a few inches of his head, spattering his face with spray. He heard a second report, and saw one of the sentinels with his rifle at his shoulder, a light cloud of blue smoke rising from the muzzle. The man in the water saw the eye of the man on the bridge gazing into his own through the sights of the rifle.” When fell in the water, the sentinels started shooting at him at one point, a cannon ball dropped yards from. He dived deeper in the water, but he could still hear the cannonballs and the shotguns that were fired after him. Bierce used Freudian analogy to captivate readers to focus on the text by describing Farquhar is illusion. Notwithstanding, his death was a total deception, it was also awfully surprising. The readers would probably be expecting a runaway convict who would have gotten shot by one of the soldiers or gotten caught be executed as planned, instead he prevented the readers to read the obvious, or guess the ending. Instead, he psychologically makes the readers focus more on the escape of Farquhar, so it could appear interestingly mysterious. He detailed every possible route Farquhar could have taken through the forest, and every possible issue that he could have encountered if Farquhar would have escaped which, inspired the readers to consider that the evasion happened. It was not until the end of the novel the readers to could tell that Farquhar is escape was nothing but an illusion. Bierce psychological drives the readers to believe that Farquhar had indeed escaped successfully and was able to reunite with his family. Farquhar is illusion is a sign of hope; hope that he would be able to escape death.
Readers may interpret Bierce is An Occurrence at Owl Creek as a philosophical ideology of how one could be hopeful about life even at one is last breath. Bierce Romantic theory to describe Farquhar is escape. Although he was on the verge of being hanged, all he could dreamed of was finding a way to escape to see his family. “He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children (p.319).” He visualized himself falling into a cliff, running through shot fires all that to reach his house so he could see his family. Therefore, in his illusion, it is clearly seen how passionate he is about his family, and how he wants to see them even for one last time. “At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how beautiful she is! He springs forward with extended arms. As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon--then all is darkness and silence! Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek Bridge.” Despise knowing that he did not have any chance to live, Farquhar did not stop
dreaming. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a fascinating story to read. The plot is mesmerizing. Although the story may seem disappointing for some, it could be a great life lesson for others depending on how the interpreted it. It could be an interpretation of how one could be hopeful during difficult, impossible to escape moments in life; It could be a love story or a history lesson. Some might say it is one of the most mysterious but interesting short stories of all time. Notwithstanding the pain on his neck, he kept running toward his house, so he could his family. Although it was simply a dream, but it was his reality. Farquhar wanted nothing but the presence of his beautiful wife and children, since he could not have that, he let himself fall into profoundly into his imagination. His tragic position did not scare him because much, but the thought of leaving his family behind tormented him.
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.
A large portion of the text in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is just Peyton’s imagination, and the details are quite vivid. Obviously, the boy in “Chickamauga” uses his imagination freely, from his pretend sword to riding the wounded soldiers like horses. It seems that this is part of Bierce’s denouncement of romanticism. Peyton’s escape, daring and unbelievable, is only his imagination. It is as if Bierce is communicating that these types of things only happen in the imagination; in reality the man uneventfully hangs and dies. The point Bierce makes is that Romanticism is just an imaginative view of the world. He attempts to make it quite clear that the world is unfair, tragic, and cruel, something Bierce had experienced firsthand. The wording used in both stories paints very realistic and grotesque images, like when the jawless soldier is described; “from the upper teeth to the throat was a great red gap fringed with hanging shreds of flesh and splinters of bone.”(Bierce) This type of description goes along with Bierce’s attempt to show true, gruesome reality, and we see it again when the boy’s mother is seen with her skull agape. Bierce also describes more beautiful scenes in a similar manner, allowing the reader to imagine vivid and detailed images. Perhaps the most prominent example of his vivid description is when Peyton emerges from the water; “He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the
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.
People can easily recognize that a butterfly, a horse, or a tree are alive and that a
Bierce was trying to create a character in which readers would feel sympathetic. Despite his rash decision, Bierce clings to the hope that Farquhar will survive. Bierce is showing that even if an individual is of great status and wealth, his or her choice has consequences.
In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, Bierce starts her short story on the edge with Peyton Farquhar, a 35 year old planter from the south, standing on Owl Creek Bridge with his hands tied behind his back and a noose around his neck. There are soldiers from the north surrounding him. Two soldiers, one on each side of him, take away the plank in which he is standing on. Falling to the water, Farquhar focuses his last thoughts on his family, while also having hopes of freeing his hands and diving into the water below.
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...
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce starts off with the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar, standing on a railroad bridge twenty feet above the water. Farquhar stands on a plank with his wrist tied behind his back, and neck tied with rope. The Northern army surrounds him, waiting for the sergeants signal to release Farquhar upon his death. At this moment, Farquhar stares at the river below his feet, watching pieces of driftwood flow downstream. He notices the river flowing slowly. To keep his mind off the current situation, Farquhar closes his eyes, thinking about his wife and children. While thinking, he hears a loud clanking noise, which he soon realizes it to be his watch ticking. Farquhar visions himself escaping by jumping
The short story starts by creating curiosity with the revelation that a man will be hung in the owl creek bridge. At that moment the reader does not know the reasons for which the man will be sentenced. In the second section, the name of the man who will be hanged is mentioned, the motives for his crime and how he was captured. The final section illustrates the struggle Peyton Farquhar was facing and the events that went through your mind at that moment. He imagined/dream that he escape and peaceful return to their home. But the reality is another and his life ends in darkness and silence. (Bierce 201-209)
Farquhar demonstrates how people often disregard what’s going on around them and go on to persuades themselves in believing the unbelievable things. Throughout the whole story, Farquhar believed that he had escaped death, but after the introduction of the main character, Bierce highlights, “As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bridge, he lost consciousness and was as one already dead” (116). As illustrated by the author, Farquhar was long dead before he even starts imagining his freedom from death. Farquhar escaping his fate of death can be opposed by readers but refuting that at the end of the story, he still ended up being dead so if he had just accepted his death, he would not have to struggle much in both his fantasy and reality. For instance, imagined himself visiting his wife after escaping the bridge and as he was about to hold her, he came to realization that all those struggles to escaping was all an imagination as Bierce declares, “he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him, with a sound like the shock of a cannon–then all is darkness and silence!” (120). As a result, Farquhar accepted his fate in the end as demonstrates in the story, “Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge” (120). In brief, Bierce reasons out that for those who kept on ignoring reality will sometimes, somehow come face to face with it and have to accept it with no other
It is very possible for the reader to be so wrapped up in the desire for Peyton's escape. The story was told as if he were escaping, "He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands." statements such as this one gave off a direct thought that escaping was exactly what he was doing. The story goes on to give detailed information about his struggle to free himself and his efforts to make it home. By the end of the story the reader is still attached to the idea that this escape was in fact real and successful. The story starts off in Alabama around the Civil War time, where Farquhar is placed on a bridge with his executioners as he awaits his death. In Sharon Talley’s article “Visions of the Night” she suggest that Bierce was obsessed with death, and the Civil War due to him himself being a civil war soldier. She also felt that he understood the importance of dreams and their connection to the unconscious, most importantly the fear of death.
In the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, the setting changed frequently and in turn, it changed the mood as well. In the beginning the mood was rather gloomy. When Bierce wrote “The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about thirty-five years of age.” A humane human would not be joyful that someone was being hanged, unless that victim has wronged them. Bierce bluntly stated that the middle-aged man was being hanged. He didn’t state what the man was being hanged for either until later on which left readers wondering what he possibly could’ve done to deserve such a fate.
The theme in “An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge” is brought together by three necessary literary elements. The author incorporates symbolism into the story to help support the theme that nobody can escapes death and how thoughts in the mind are so substantial in the consciousness that it can take over the reality. The author uses symbolism to support the theme that nobody can escape death Bierce showed the piece of driftwood slowly being carried away. That piece of driftwood brought hope to Peyton Farquhar, because of this his mind started to wonder out of reality. He started to go into a fantasy world where he could escape and become that driftwood in the currents of the rivers. By giving Fargher this hope the author was able to allow him to escape in only his mind. Showing that there was no reality for the execution to go undone. The author lead us into such a unbelievable r...
...stiny, is sentenced to be hung, and he has an extraordinary response through the manifestation of thoughts. He looks around for a way to escape, but his only escape way is through his mind. Bierce exploits the reality of Farquhar’s mental quest for freedom using twist and turns that revolve around the inevitable hanging. Moreover, through defiance, regret, and symbolism, Bierce’s writing is exquisitely tied up with unique parallel representation, and as a result, he conveys a strange connection through nature and a spiritual perpetuity. Subsequently, the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Bridge Creek Bridge” (Bierce 551) leaves a mysterious and amazing suspended impression.
“A Hanging” ends with the prison guards going on with their day after executing a man. “We all had a drink together, native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a hundred yards away.” (335) The simplicity of the ending tells the reader how normal an execution is for the men. It also helps shows how simple the short in its entirety is. The ending of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” was a plot twist. As a reader, I could assume Farquhar did not successfully escape his death, but as a person with a heart, I still had the hope that he did. However, my hopes were smashed by Ambrose Bierce’s ending. His ending that involved Farquhar seeing is family again completely changed due to these simple words “Peyton Farquhar was dead…” While both stories end simply the two differ