“A single company of infantry in line at “parade rest,” the butts of the rifles on the ground, the barrels inclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock. A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his right.” This quote represents the amount of attention that Ambrose Bierce used when describing the military. In the story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce has extreme knowledge of how the military work and expresses his knowledge throughout the entire story.
In the opening scene, while describing the hanging of a man, Ambrose goes into extreme depth to describe the military. From where the military stands, to how they look, act, and are betrayed. The author continues to go on in the opening act to consecutively keep the amount of the knowledge. This knowledge, that has been presented, will continue to be held throughout the entire narrative.
Into the second paragraph, he describes in extended detail, good vantage points from a military point of view. “Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran
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He describes Peyton, the main character, and his life. Peyton is from a southern state and is pro slavery. One evening at Peyton's home, a soldier rode up to their house gate, he continued to ask for a drink of water and Peyton, being pro slavery, was more than happy to help the soldier. While in conversation with the man, he deserved that the man was a scout and had information of a bridge not to far away from his home. Peyton continued to ask more details and later discovered that there was firewood underneath the bridge that could burn the bridge down. After nightfall he left his plantation home and went to go destroy the bridge. This is ironic considering that he is trying to burn a bridge that his own troops are trying to
Many war stories today have happy, romantic, and cliche ending; many authors skip the sad, groosom, and realistic part of the story. W. D. Howell’s story, Editha and Ambrose Bierce’s story, An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge both undercut the romantic plots and unrealistic conclusions brought on by many stories today. Both stories start out leading the reader to believe it is just another tpyical love-war senario, but what makes them different is the one-hundred and eighty degrees plot twist at the end of each story.
In the Foreword, before the battle begins, Shaara starts with a list of the principle players in the upcoming tragic drama of the battle at Gettysburg. Like in a program to a stage play, the armies and the characters are listed before they take the stage. As the curtain opens, the first actor who appears on this stage is the Confederate spy, Harrison, who is actually an actor by profession. Through this solitary and seemingly insignificant man, the reader is taken backstage to witness the drama unfold in person.
The book opens with a Confederate spy as he made his way through the Union lines on the night of June 29, 1863 toward Confederate General Robert E. Lee bearing news of the Army of the Potomac as they crossed paths in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The days after follow the various Union and Confederate regiments as they regained their wits about them after the previous Battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Marching onward toward Gettysburg, where the most deciding battle of the Civil War would take place.
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true” (Kierkegaard)- Misleading oneself by accepting things as true or valid when they are not is a common phenomenon of nearly every human being, especially when faced with life changing of threatening situations. Self-deception can therefore be considered an option to escape reality in order to prevent oneself from dealing with the weight of a situation. Basically, those strong influencing psychological forces keep us from acknowledging a threatening situation or truth. However, oftentimes people do not realize that they are deceiving themselves, for it is mostly the action of the subconscious mind to protect especially the psychological well- being. This psychological state is depicted and in Ambrose Bierce’s short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. He shows that people try to escape reality and seek refuge in self-deception when confronted with life-threatening situations, through characterization, alternate point of view, and the fluidity of time.
The novel starts with a preamble that actually pace sets the panorama for the proceeding actions and is split into two sections. The first section defines two different kinds of armies. They are armies of Northern Virginia that are headed by Robert Lee and managed to go through Potomac which was located at Williamsport and attacked the Northern areas. All this occurred in the year 1863. The major objective of the attack was to dare the Union army into a war and defeat it. Towards the end of June that year, the Potomac army and Union army that had at least eighty thousand men decided to advance northward on the heels of the rebels who had somehow stopped at Gettysburg. In the next section, a description of the main characters is done. On the confederate side, Robert Edward Lee, James Longstreet, George Pinkett, Richard Ewell, Ambrose Power Hill, Lewis Armistead, Richard Brooke Garnett, J.E.B. Stuart, Jubal Early are mentioned. On the union side, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, John Buford, John Reynolds, George Gordon Meade, Winfield Scott Hancock are also named.
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.
Sitting in their cottage, mayhap talking of the soldier brother, there fell upon the ears of these defenseless home-keepers strange sounds: the galloping of horses, the clanging of swords, frequent shots, sharp, quick commands. They wondered what all this clamor could mean, and rushing to the porch, they saw companies of men clad in blue, all riding in hot haste toward the bridge over the creek. They were beating and spurring their brutes [mules], which seemed weary under their human burdens, and in their dumb way resenting the cruel and harsh measures used to drive them to greater and more strenuous effort.
Personally, I find another aspect of his narrative even more interesting and notable: Pressfield puts you not in the position of the hero, as is standard fare, but tells his story through the eyes of the frightened friend, concerned family and lacking soldier. An ingenious trick that makes it much easier to convey the awe-inspiring qualities of the undaunted hero.
Charles Yale Harrison’s “in the trenches” and mark twain's” two ways of seeing a river” are both autobiographical narratives that use descriptive language. In Harrison’s “in the trenches,” his brilliant use of sensory imagery lets the readers mind experience the treacherous and horrendous reality of war, with just the use of words. On the other hand, in twains “two ways of seeing a river,” the use of sensory imagery is carefully used to help the reader visualize the change in twains perception of the once “majestic river.” Both authors effortlessly utilize imagery to illustrate the realities of their topics. Harrison uses all the aspects of sensory imagery to display the life men are living in the trenches; meanwhile, in twains essay, he partially
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)
Imagining Reality: The Presentation Of The Theme of Illusion VS Reality in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Analyzing, a verb meaning to examine critically, so as to bring out the essential elements or give the essence of writing. This great work, Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce, is about a young adult called Peyton Farquhar. Garnet story takes place during the civil war; therefore Farquhar was a white land owner with slaves. As one digs deeper and cracks the shell of this story, the attention to detail, realism, and capital punishment play a big role.
"Short Stories :An occurence at owl creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce." 2009. Web. 2 Dec 2009. .
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.
The story leads up to the summer of 1863, during which the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment led an unsuccessful attack on the Confederate’s Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The 54th regiment was the Nation's first black regiment and because of their skill, courage, and determination, they were credited with paving the way for the successful entry of other black soldiers into the ranks of the Union. In addition, these brave men demonstrated that black men were willing to fight and die both for their country and for their freedom. The setting was primarily outdoors and on the battle