“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” - John Lennon. Reality can be nearly altered by imagination, yet in the end reality always wins. Mood, tone, and theme are three strong components that are used to create the shifting idea of reality in the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” written by Ambrose Bierce. The literary devices of mood, tone, and theme are created through a selection of phrases, descriptive words, and events that are made to appear to occur over time throughout the story. However, the reader realizes that there is a difference between the actual “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and what happens only in the protagonist's imagination. The author uses shifting melancholic moods, and sarcastic tones to draw the …show more content…
reader in to understand the theme that life is not always a fairytale. In the first paragraph, it is clear that the author is speaking from a limited third person point of view. “The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck” (Bierce 481). In this section, Bierce is showing what is seen from afar in cold descriptive language with no emotion. The setting and the situation are just described, like facts with no understanding of each character’s emotions. However, in the second section, Bierce transitions into a third person omniscient point of view; displaying each character’s thoughts and feelings. In doing this, Bierce is beginning to set the tone for the rest of the story. The tone of any story can be easy to find, however, in some cases the tone is not in plain sight. Therefore, the tone is sometimes found in other elements of the story such as diction. He shifts to a tone of sarcasm in regards to reality compared to illusion. In that sense he is mocking “fairytale stories” with happy endings. To express the author's sarcasm in the story, he incorporates snarky and teasing words. “What splendid effort!-- what magnificent, what superhuman strength!”(485). His choice of the words “splendid”, “magnificent” and “superhuman strength” in this particular sentence is used to show sarcasm in describing Peyton Farquhar's imagined get away. It can be inferred that the author is cynical and does not believe in a happy ending. It is the end of Peyton's life, not a dream, not a fairy tale. It appears that the author feels that stories with “magical” endings are not realistic, especially in a time of war. Also, in the next sentence he continues the use of ridicule by integrating “Fine endeavor! Bravo!”(485), he is still “milking” the getaway and the ridiculous and impossible feat of escaping. In this instance, Peyton seems to be a dreamy character who does not perceive reality, in contrast to the beginning of the story where Peyton is portrayed as a well put together man who is intelligent and kind with strong features. He does not deserve the punishment he is being served. Bierce used this technique to set the reader up for when he explains how he truly feels about Peyton and the story. Thus, leading to a melancholy mood where the reader feels a sense of sadness and an eerie foreshadowing. Mood can be interpreted and expressed in many different ways.
This makes mood one of the greatest aspects of a story, because in literature, mood is the emotional feeling that is created in the reader. The author can also alter the mood in their own way with the use of diction and tone. Mood is created in the story with the use of negative, positive, and any other attitude words. In the beginning of the story, Bierce writes with a third person view of the scene that is occurring. He provides minimal detail of any emotion of the characters, except to comment on the absence of emotion to put emphasis on it. “Staring stonily”, “motionless”(481). The words he used to express the soldiers standing conveyed the idea that they were unemotional yet proper and took the hanging of Peyton Farquhar very seriously. The idea of the soldiers “staring”(481) express’ a distinctive importance set on them being detached from the event. “Formal and unnatural position,”(481) “etiquette” and “deference”(483). Thus, portraying that the soldiers were stone-faced and stern, and that Peyton must have broken an important rule in order to be awarded this punishment. However, it is not until the second section that the reader finds out that he is a criminal, so it must be assumed that Peyton does not deserve his punishment. The author initially described Peyton with complimentary words. “No service was too humble for him to perform in aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if …show more content…
consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war”(483). Peyton is conveyed to be an all around guy, a true jack of all trades who is pleasant, likeable, and did not necessarily do anything wrong. Later in the story, when Peyton is dreaming of running to see his wife to hug her, the reader is accompanied with a deep sense of sadness, because the reader can put themselves into Peyton’s situation. Bierce appealed to the reader's emotion by accomplishing this technique of using pathos to evoke pity and empathy. Even though the reader understands that Peyton was a soldier being punished for his crime, there is still a gut feeling of sympathy for Peyton. There is a sense that you want him to escape and see his wife, creating hope, and than a quick shift of sadness to end the story. A roller coaster ride of emotions is conveyed with the use of this descriptive diction. In many short stories, theme is typically used to motivate a reader or teach a life lesson.
In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Bierce theme is that life is not always a fairytale. Real life is sometimes interrupted by tragedy and does not always have a happy ending. Bierce’s sarcastic tone gives off the idea that he is making fun of fairytail dreams. “Their movements were grotesque and horrible, their forms gigantic”(486), describing the soldiers setting up to shoot at Peyton and emphasizing the hard truth about war. It is grotesque and horrible. People kill and people die, but then each and every bullet just perfectly misses Peyton while he maneuvered his way through the water. This created an illusion of almost impossible superhero-like qualities that Peyton seemed to have, but this was imagined. This dream-like state foreshadowed that it was not real and was more of a fairytale. This contrast between reality and fairytale is what makes the theme so vivid at the end of the
story. Mood, tone, and theme have a strong impact on every piece of great literature. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” the author uses literary devices to show different perspectives and also highlight the gap between reality and fairytales. There is a shift in mood from descriptive and detached to a more sad mood of melancholy, depending on the perspective. The sarcastic and mocking tone help to show the contrast between dreams and reality. The theme is that in life, reality always comes out on top and there are no fairytale endings. Diction is the main reason why these components are conveyed strongly and effectively throughout the story.
Ambrose Bierce chose to write this story in third person limited omniscient point of view to help the reader understand the story from the main character’s mind, Peyton Farquar. During the story you only see what happens through Peyton’s eyes. Therefore, you do not realize that most of the narrative reflects Peyton’s imagination. Choosing this type of view also lets the author focus more on the emotions and thoughts of the main character. The author does not let the reader see into the eyes of the men hanging him, but after reading the story one will understand that their point of view was not needed and would have actually taken away from the story if done so. His creative way of inventing this story would not have affected me and many other readers if written any other way.
In writing this story, Bierce is commenting on war itself and the contrast between this romanticized tale of heroism and the gruesome reality the hundreds of thousands of men had to face, and still have to face to this very day. The true horrors of war are never normally publicized, and this is why the populace is willing to go and fight. In the case of Peyton Farquhar, this ignorance lead to his blind patriotism, which in turn lead to his death. As the narrator relates to the reader: “Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with the gallant army [...] and he chafed under the inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his energies, the larger life of the soldier, the opportunity for distinction.” (Bierce 2). The aforementioned quote is most definitely an affirmation of the grandeur of the military, and this is the perspective that Peyton Farquhar and many men shared. It is this illusion of grandeur that corrupts many men (and women) to head out and die in horrible
In Ambrose Bierces " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" two private soldiers of the Federal army were appointed by a sergeant to lynch Peyton Farquhar from a elderly suspended bridge because of his attempt to aid the Confederate forces. He was to be executed for aiding the confederate forces. He knew his death was at his fingertips and couldn’t help ponder its arrival. He looks at the river below observing the depth of the river. Early on in the story Ambrose portrays Peyton, from his perspective, seeing a shallow river. The fact that the river is shallow and will defiantly kill Peyton distracts the reader from the truth behind the mans observation. Peytonseeing the river shallow is foreshadowing the actual depth of the river. In fact the river is so deep that when the rope snaps it seems he falls endlessly in the water. The reader is eagerly awaiting the soon death of Peyton, then suddenly surprised while the river cushions his fall. Several other soldiers were relentlessly targeting the man at ...
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.
People can easily recognize that a butterfly, a horse, or a tree are alive and that a
The story is broken into three parts. Part one starts out with an individual being hung. Part two describes a man and his family and his encounter with a “Confederate soldier.” The man he had encountered was dressed in all grey just as a confederate soldier would. Finally part three describes a virtually impossible series of events that are occurring to the protagonist. The way Bierce orders his evidence in his story gives clues that the man on the bridge in part one was foreshadowing the choice of somebody later to be discovered in other parts of his story. Bierce use multiple pieces of evidence of foreshadowing in part three. First, Peyton Farquhar “escapes” death, being hanged. Next the arrogant man falls into the rapidly moving river, yet still survives. Farquhar “was now in full possession of his physical senses. They were, prenaturally, keen and alert” (Bierce 506). In reality, somebody who has just been hanged for a while, would struggle to have full range over his or her senses. Next, the protagonist endures being fired at by Union soldiers. He dove deep down into the river. Many rounds were fired but no soldier could seem to shoot
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...
Setting in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a mutable component and known as one of the most imperative indicators in the text to direct the reader towards how it should be perceived and what is happening. Based during the Civil War the environment was set in occupied Federal Army territory where, “a lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his right.” (Bierce 399). The function of time in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" both creates positives and negatives that define the story as realist that describes moments with genuine detail, taking many paragraphs to relate a single second. Such as the moment, “ [Farquhar] looked a moment his “unsteadfast foot,” then let
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)
"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.
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.
...ony, and narration. Without these exceptional parts the theme would not have as much meaning and depth in its perception to the reader. The symbols show to the reader that there is a hidden message to what is going to happen in the end and hints to the theme of the story but is purposely ignored. Irony brings attention to the conscious or thoughts during the story and the unlikelihood of actually dying at the end shows how strong our minds are. Narration is brought to show the theme of his expected death and a diversion from the reality of the readers thoughts. The story is saturated with literary elements that help prove the theme of “An Occurrence of Owl Creek Bridge”.
The setting of the story is in a small area of Northern Alabama, but the setting has multiple locations within the different scenes of the story. In the first section of the story, Farquhar is in preparation to be hung at Owl Creek Bridge. Before Farquhar’s dreadful hanging, Bierce takes the audience back to the past where Farquhar seems to be the owner of a plantation. In this scene, Farquhar is consulting with a spy from the union who has effectively disguised himself as a thirsty confederate soldier. The
An example of suspenseful writing in the story was when the enemy sniper shoots the Republican sniper. “Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn 't lift it. His forearm was dead. "I 'm hit," he muttered.” This Short story can show how sudden things can change, and how scary it can be trying to figure out what to do next. Mr. O’Flaherty tells his short story to inform others how difficult and scary war can be when someone gets shot at or wounded. In his short story he also shows how fast and smart you have to be, and know how to take care of yourself if something happens. In the story, after the sniper got shot in the arm he knew how to temporarily fix it. “Then taking out his field dressing, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of the iodine bottle and let the bitter fluid drip into the wound. A paroxysm of pain swept through him. He placed the cotton wadding over the wound and wrapped the dressing over it. He tied the ends with his teeth.” In war anything can happen at any certain
One way Bierce keeps his audience’s attention during his story is his use of imagery, especially during intense or uncomfortable scenes. Bierce’s use of imagery creates and maintains suspense in the way he provides a lot of information and description details but also withholds important aspects of the story; this is most notably shown in the paragraph where Bierce describes the hanging of Peyton Farquhar. Bierce describes the hanging as “streams of pulsating fire heating [Peyton] to an intolerable temperature” (cite). Bierce also uses imagery in the way he describes