Life can be stressful, difficult, and worrisome. It is nearly impossible to avoid the struggles of the real world. However, the mind does give people a tool to temporarily elude them -- the imagination. If used properly, the imagination can allow a person to temporarily escape the harsh reality of life. Ambrose Bierce, a Civil War veteran, displays this in the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Bierce uses the “Owl Creek Bridge” and the “Owl Creek” to symbolize the perception of the imagination. He displays the gap between reality and imagination by changing his style of writing throughout the story. He transitions from a basic style of writing, that represents the constraints of real life, to an intricate one, that represents the freedom of imagination.Within this imagination, Bierce plays with irony to show how it can be a defense mechanism against death itself. …show more content…
The author introduces both these elements within the first sentence of the story: “A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below” (Bierce, Para 1). In the text, the bridge connects the confederate land to the union land. The confederate land is where his home is, and therefore is a part of his life. The union army is trying to take that away from him, making them a representation of death. Farquhar attempts to burn the bridge and stop the union forces from advancing. He is trying to destroy the realization of death taking over his life. The Owl Creek Bridge represents the problems that reality withholds. Farquhar cannot escape those struggles through force, but instead is able to escape them through creative thought. He pictures himself dropping down from the bridge, into the stream, to which his imaginative adventure
In Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery, the people of a small American town struggle to hold onto a gruesome tradition, one which has greatly affected the moral values of the society. In writing this story, Jackson is commenting on tradition; how, when taken to extremes, it can hinder society. THis horrible tradition of stoning people to death is a normal event from the perspective of the townspeople; one which is practised by the whole town. Early on in the story, the narrator states that the lottery “was conducted - as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program - by Mr. Summer…” (Jackson 1). As evidenced by this quote, the lottery was just another event comparable to other events that society deems normal. In other words:
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.
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 ...
In the last three paragraphs of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge told by a third person point of view, Farquhar is being hanged by the rope, and when the rope is undone, Farquhar escapes and sees the light of the river. The light in this particular story represents a warm bright light from heaven. On other hand on the complete opposite side, in The Tell Tale Heart the light (lantern) signifies fear of the eye. However the narrator reveals that Farquhar?s escape is a hallucination that lasts only from moment the rope breaks his neck at the end of the fall.
We all have faced challenges that make our lives succeeding difficult, but the way we approach these challenges is what affect us in the long run. In “Annabelle Lee”, by Edgar Allan Poe, “Oranges” by Gary Soto, and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost they all feature speakers that deal with hardships that they must overcome. The three poets use literary devices to show how they deal with theses challenges along with the struggles that come with it. In “ Annabelle Lee” Poe uses diction to show how the speaker deals with the death of his bride.
has an idea in his intellect that there is a way to be Italian looking
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” shows to be an interesting, dramatic breath taking story with a hopeful main character who was determined to not live in the moment of his current situation. Bierce did a great job of turning Peyton Farquhar’s illusions into reality for the reader’s. Peyton’s illusions came from the fact that he could not face his reality of his death and this was the only way he could cope with it, his psychological succeeds at everything his physical could not. Throughout the entire story, it is nearly impossible to draw the line between what is real and what is being made up by Peyton, the reader is totally submerged into his illusions, deeming them as reality.
He illustrates the agony of thinking and the burden it places on him. Through his self-reflection, Douglass explains the pain and discomfort his expanding knowledge bears upon him, a young boy exploring his present world to discover that maybe ignorance really is bliss. Through the use of several literary devices such as specified diction, irony, and parallelism, the speaker relays a desperate tone throughout this section of his narrative elaborating on the torment
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” written by Ambrose Bierce, is about a man named Peyton Farquhar, who was being hung at the Owl Creek Bridge. This story takes place in the American Civil War era in Alabama where the Union army declared, “they would hang any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels or trains.” Bierce uses many different themes in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” but his standout, and most important, themes are man vs. himself, the battle, triumph over adversity, love conquers all, and death. Bierce starts his story of a man who was about to be hanged from the Owl Creek Bridge. Farquhar was a well-to-do planter, from an old and highly respected Alabama family.
Ambrose Bierce, the author of a short story titled, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". The southern plantation owner Peyton Farquhar, searches for hope deep within the realization of his soon to be last breath. Observing his surroundings, standing upon on that Northern Alabama bridge he was there to destroy. Only moments before was he then was captured for trespassing. He is now caught standing upon a plank held down by the soldiers weight. Waiting for the exact moment to step off the board, he closed his eyes envisioning his wife and children that one last time. Peyton then fell through the bridge, only to awaken at the bottom of the stream. I believe that hope gave him the strength to awake after the fall. No longer unconscious from the rope around his neck, the beaming light far in a distance caught his eye.
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
The story an Occurrence at Owl creek bridge, shows how a man , named Farquhar when
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
The use of literary devices has proven to be the key to a successful short story. An author's use of these devices makes or breaks the story for a reader. He must successfully define such things as the character, theme and setting to put the reader into their mind frame to fully understand and feel the story. In this week's readings, we are shown the authors' use of literary devices with serious ironies to show human condition and the nature of humanity. Such stories as "The Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat," "The Rocking-Horse Winner," and "Gilded Six Bits" shine light on the essence of the human condition and the nature of humanity. While, Ellison's "Battle Royal", and Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" define irony and draw the reader into sympathy and disbelief. Although telling powerful stories can sometimes be as easy as conveying the information, subtly introducing ironies, using correct symbolisms, and even using the right point of view, is what enhances and expands the author's vision.
It has been proven evident throughout the history of literature that authors will tend to incorporate their own lives into their works. This is the case in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Although the novel is in itself fictional, Brontë invites readers into her private life by the way in which she writes her novel. Literary elements are often taken into consideration when determining the value of a literary work. However, they offer more than just layers of complexity to a work. Brontë uses countless metaphors to portray relevance to her own life. The ongoing comparison between the characters in Wuthering Heights and Brontë’s own life only exemplifies how often authors use their works to reflect their lives.