“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Analysis In American history, the 1860’s were a time of pure stress for the citizens of the United States. The Union and the Confederate armies were at war with each other regarding whether slavery should be legal. Hundreds of thousands of men died at war in order to support their families. The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce follows a confederate soldier named Farquhar who was nearing the end of his time. The author strategically uses elements of sensory details, foreshadowing, and symbolism in order to reveal more about the character of Farquhar. In the story, Bierce uses principles of sensory detail in order to show Farquhar’s thinking. For example, when describing the seconds …show more content…
This fits in perfectly with the characterization of Farquhar; a character with endless motivation who ends up getting absolutely nowhere in the story. The author uses the plot line of Farquhar ending up right back where he started to prove his own beliefs in life. While the foreshadowing hints at the protagonists’ death, Farquhar’s actions and thoughts still go on to show what a determined man he is at heart. Furthermore, the use of symbolism around and through the character of Farquhar shows more about the true character of Farquhar. In Farquhar’s imagination at the beginning of the story the author writes “with their greater infrequency the sounds increased in strength and sharpness. They hurt his ear like the trust of a knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard was the ticking of his watch”(Bierce 12). In this quote, the ticking of his watch is a direct representation of time left before death, and acts as a bridge for when the main character’s imagination kicks in. The watch represents Farquhar’s death, and even significance in the story when it switches over to his …show more content…
"Do I Wake or Sleep? Technique as Content in Ambrose Bierce's Short Story, 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Joseph Palmisano, vol. 93. 72, Gale, et al., 2004. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420058863/LitRC?u=gwt1&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=96d96439. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024. The. Originally published in American Literary Realism, 1870-1910, vol. 19, No. 1 -. 3, Spring 1987, pp. 113-114. 52-67. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'. Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Ambrose Bierce: The Devil’s Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs. https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Bierce_Owl_Creek_Bridge.pdf Fox, Roy F. “Mental Imagery and Writing.” Journal of Teaching Writing, vol. 78, no. 1, pp. 113-117. 13, No. 1 -. 1–2, Jan. 1994, pp. 113–122. 127–46. The. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=40b723aa-c447-3db9-8ab6-001fd5dac330. Palmer, James W. "From Owl Creek to La Riviere du Hibou: The Film Adaptation of Bierce's 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Joseph Palmisano, vol. 93. 72, Gale, et al., 2004. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420058856/LitRC?u=gwt1&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=39b2892a. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024. The. Originally published in Southern Humanities Review, vol. 78. 11, No. 1 -. 4, Fall 1977, pp. 113-117. 363-371. See the full list of vacancies. “Symbolism.” Britannica Online. EBSCOhost,
The Federal soldiers execute orders in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, which Ambrose Bierce (Ambrose 551) characterizes Peyton Farquhar’s impending demise as he encounter delusions, exemplifies profound keen senses, and experiences a perplexing fight-or-flight mental cognizance in an escape toward a perceived freedom, and nonetheless, remains a “standing civilian and a student in a hanging” (554).
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.
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” takes place in the south during the civil war, in which a man named Farqhar experiences illusions before his execution. In these illusions he is dreaming of escaping from the Northerners and continuing with his life, however his dreams are abruptly cut short. Ambrose Bierce relies on incongruity and imagery to suggest the theme of naturalism in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
Imagine yourself standing on a bridge with a noose around your neck and your mind is racing a mile a minute while awaiting execution, or you are the lone spectacle standing on a scaffold, while everyone in your town has all of their eyes riveted on one person, and that person is you. Peyton Farquhar is a Confederate supporter and Hester Prynne committed the mortal sin of adultery. They were both criminals of the law and were punished for their crimes. However, to their merit, their authors established them as sympathetic characters even though what they had done was wrong.
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Bierce, is the story of the hanging of a Civil War era Southern gentleman by the name of Peyton Farquhar. The story begins with an unidentified man being prepared to be hanged by a company of Union soldiers on a railroad bridge that runs over a river. He is then identified as Peyton Farquhar, a man who attempted to destroy the very bridge they are standing on based on information he was given by a Federal scout posing as a Confederate soldier. As he is dropped from the bridge to hang, the rope snaps and he falls into the river. After freeing himself and returning to the surface of the river, he realizes that his senses are all much heightened and he even “noted the prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass” (153). Peyton then begins to swim downstream as he is being shot at by the soldiers and a cannon as well. He soon pulls himself ashore and begins the long journey home. After walking all day and night, to the point where “his tongue was swollen with thirst” and “he could no longer feel the roadway beneath his feet” he finally makes it to his home (155). Just as he is about to embrace his wife he feels a sharp pain in his neck and hears a loud snap. He is dead from the hanging, and all this was just a dream. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” shows the potential strength that a person’s will to live can have, and that we often don’t appreciate...
Out of all the stories I have read in class so far, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, has touched me most. When I first began reading the story I felt as though I was not interested, because my assumptions of what the story was going to be about were completely different than the stories actual content. As I set aside my judgment and let myself try to enjoy the story, I found myself anxiously reading to the bitter end. This story was not only interesting and unique, but also had an added twist at the end, which surprised most readers. Depending on how observant the reader is with picking up on foreshadowing and symbolic meaning, one may realize before the final sentences that Peyton Farquar was not actually escaping home but in fact hallucinating while desperately trying to escape the hangmen.
In both “Chickamauga” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Ambrose Pierce paints vivid images of both fantasy and reality. It seems that Bierce’s goal is to ultimately display reality as clearly and harshly as possible, and this is done by contrasting reality with fantasy. In both stories, Bierce creates a somewhat nightmarish world, and although sprinkled with scenes of beauty, both end in tragedy. In the stories Bierce attempts to dash fantasies of a Romantic world view, and display the cold and unfair reality of the world.
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.
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.
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” leads readers to query Ambrose Bierce about the numerous point of view shifts his story takes. Ambrose Bierce’s descriptive writing style grasps the reader’s attention, unknowingly manipulating the reader throughout the entire story. This statement holds to be true as the story line develops. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” has a variety of ups and downs throughout the story, changing the direction and perspective through its point of view of omniscient and limited omniscient. Ambrose Bierce’s various shifts deceive readers into believing the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar, has escaped a perilous fate.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, written by Ambrose Bierce in 1890-1891, depicts an antiwar motif of the American Civil War. Bierce uses dramatic irony, descriptive imagery and the theme of time. The war was fought from 1861 to 1865 after seven Southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America, also known as the “Confederacy” or the “South.” The remaining states were known as the “Union” or the “North.” The war’s origin was the issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories of the United States. After four years of bloody combat, over 600,000 soldiers were dead and much of the South’s infrastructure had been destroyed. The Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and reconstruction process of national unity and guaranteed rights to freed slaves began.
The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, exemplifies the idea of dream versus reality. A dream is believe that comes from the deepest stage of your mind. Is based on ideas, emotions and sensations that sometimes are related to our real life or just a fantasy. Reality is a succession of events that exist.
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
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The short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, keeps you at the edge of your seat with its interesting story plot. Bierce uses symbolism, a form of literary technique, to bring deeper meaning to the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Bierce also uses allusion, another form of literary technique, in the short story to keep the reader interested. The gray eyes mentioned in the story are a very important element included to symbolize the gray line within Farquhar’s mind because he has become lost. Ambrose Bierce uses literary techniques and foreshadowing to ultimately shock you with a tragic ending.