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. In the Tell Tale Heart, Poe uses many figures of speech such as Anaphora at the beginning of a clause throughout the whole entire story as the narrator becomes calm and mad about the crime the narrator committed. A couple examples are: ?I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth.
He finally enters the last stage of his symbolic dying process. Bierce says, “…then all is dark and silent…Peyton Fahrquar was dead…” “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is riddled with symbolic meaning. Bierce creates a realistic disguise of events until the very end of the story, where he allows the reader to realize that Fahrquars’ escape did not actually occur. He uses symbols to convey the true meaning of this breathtaking story: Perception is Reality.
The union spy planted a seed of hearsay into Farquhar’s mind and Farquhar’s desires allowed this seed to sprout into what he saw as a possibility for acknowledgement and commendation. One can tell that Farquhar was consumed by the thought of being a war hero. His willingness to serve the confederacy is what dooms his life after he is caught trying to burn the bridge and stop the unions progression into the south. After his capture Farquhar is sentenced to death by hanging, when the noose slipped around his neck the only thoughts going through his head were those of escape, how he would do it and what he would do if he did. Before he knew it the sergeant stepped aside and Farquhar fell though the bridge to his death, but this is not the e... ... middle of paper ... ...ay to end such a captivating story, but for those who were able to catch on it may actually seem quite peaceful.
The use of irony is widely applied today in our films, conversations, and literature. Irony can be helpful in the aspect of literature when depicting between illusion and reality. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce and in “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are examples that can be seen of how irony is used in stories. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a story of a man by the name of Peyton Farquhar. This man is involuntarily at Owl Creek Bridge waiting to be hanged but before passing away, he envisioned himself escaping his death and seeing his family.
Ambrose Bierce’s various shifts deceive readers into believing the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar, has escaped a perilous fate. Readers are confounded as the conflict actualizes with Peyton Farquhar finding himself on a bridge awaiting his execution. Although Farquhar is to be hung, he still manages to keep calm and focused on what is important, his family. However this is where the story makes its first turn as Farquhar’s thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his own watch. The description of the piercing sound is but a small glimpse of the “dream” that is to come.
Conclusion ========== Bierce has a unique style to pull the reader into the story. To name a few techniques, his complex illusions keep the audience in suspense, his detailed descriptions allow the reader to picture all aspects of the story and the dividing of the story into three separate parts help them to stay focused. These all work together to provide a compelling, inspiring and powerful story. 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' is a great example how the mind can be deceptive.
(Schaffner)" An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is split into three sections. In the first section, Bierce describes in detail the situation, a youn... ... middle of paper ... ...egin to broaden. The thought that death is inevitable, institutes a new perspective into Farquhar’s mind. As he falls into the water, his senses are awoken as he comes to the surface and feels the “ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they stuck” (Bierce 468). This use of imagery is significant as it helps contribute to the sense of authenticity, which again ties back to realism.
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.
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 ...
Peyton shows symbols, flashbacks, and foreshadowing as he is getting ready to die by execution. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge has many examples of themes, motifs and symbols. One of the things Bierce puts in the story is the idea of flashbacks and foreshadowing. Peyton Farquhar is getting executed. As he is hanging there, He envisions himself of being free but he is moments away from death.