During the period of Realism in the late 19th century, writers attempted to bring their readers into a story that they or someone they knew might experience. It was very popular as it was relatable but also brought up themes that were not commonly explored. As best said by Harriet Kramer Linkin of the Journal of Narrative Technique "Bierce plays a cat and mouse game with his readers in the tale" (Linkin 2). This is shown especially well in Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". In this short story, Bierce tests his readers by blurring the fine line between fiction and reality.
Ambrose Bierce was born in Ohio on June 24th, 1842. Bierce married Mary Ellen Day in 1871 and had three children, Day, Leigh, and Helen. Day and Leigh died in their twenties, one by suicide and the other from phenomena. Ambrose divorced Mary Ellen in 1904 and she died the year after. His daughter Helen was his only descendant that outlived him. Bierce served in the Union Army's 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. A year after he enlisted, he was made First Lieutenant and worked as a topographical engineer, creating maps of battlefields. It is believed that he suffered from PTSD which influenced many of his later works. According to Bill Marx of Artfuse.org "He was the only major American author to serve in the Civil War, and his writing on combat, including yarns about the horrific battles he participated in, such as Chickamauga, catch the chaos of conflagration" (Marx). As M.A. Schaffner put it, "Bierce’s descriptions are fantastically horrible because the truth is sometimes fantastically horrible. (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.
During the period of realism, authors carefully treaded the line between fiction and reality. Bierce is successful in doing this, and at times pushes that boundary. His use of literary devices and his previous experiences at war both add to the authenticity of the story. His excessive use of detail provides a sense of security that lures the reader in and later keeps them reading. Overall, Bierce brought his readers into a world that was not real but also not fictional.
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.
Many times readers lose interest in stories that they feel are not authentic. In addition, readers feel that fictitious novels and stories are for children and lack depth. Tim O’ Brien maintains that keeping readers of fiction entertained is a most daunting task, “The problem with unsuccessful stories is usually simple: they are boring, a consequence of the failure of imagination- to vividly imagine and to vividly render extraordinary human events, or sequences of events, is the hard-lifting, heavy-duty, day-by-day, unending labor of a fiction writer” (Tim O’ Brien 623). Tim O’ Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” examines the correlation between the real experiences of war and the art of storytelling. In O’Brien’s attempt to bridge the gap between fiction and non-fiction the narrator of the story uses language and acts of violence that may be offensive to some. However some readers agree that Tim O" Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story" would lack authenticity and power without the use of crude language and violence.
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.
The short stories, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and “The Luck of Roaring Camp”, written by Ambrose Bierce and Bret Harte respectively, share similar conflicts, notions, and themes. In Bierce’s story, a man is being held for execution for his crimes in the Civil war as a part of the Confederacy; as he imagines himself cleverly escaping the military executioners through a river under the bridge, until his seemingly brilliant streak of luck ends, and he dies from the noose he never left. Similarly, in Harte’s story, an entire town in California during the gold rush is stuck with again, seemingly brilliant luck, when Thomas Luck is born, only to have that hope crushed when Thomas is killed
"An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Classic Reader. 2009. BlackDog Media, Web. 2 Dec 2009. .
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.
There has been much examination of the more popular terms used in American literature, such as romanticism and classicism, but little examination done on literary realism. Despite realism being mostly ignored in the late nineteenth century, it has now become commonplace in American literature. Although An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce does offer some examples of literary realism in its verisimilitude of detail and idealism, there were also many instances of fantastical imagery and an unrealistic sense of time, which is contradictory to literary realism.
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 authors, Ambrose Bierce of 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and Edger Allan Poe of 'The Tell Tale Heart' have unique styles to pull the reader into the story. Both authors use unreliable narrator and imagery to allow the reader to picture and follow the narrator's way of thinking. In the Tell Tale Heart, the man is very repetitious and his psychotic behavior is what intrigues the overall dark madness of The Tell Tale Heart. In Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Bierce uses illusions to allow the reader to follow wherever his ideas lead which also intrigues the overall dark madness effect.
Ambrose Bierce wrote "The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" during the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century. During this time period the two writing styles of romanticism, and realism were coming together. This melding of styles was a result of the romantic period of writing and art coming to an end, just at realism was beginning to gain popularity. "The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a perfect example of this transition of styles as it combines elements of both romanticism and realism to create a story that can be far-fetched while still believable at times.
of how John Steinbeck uses extraordinary circumstances to create appeal and realism to the reader.
Perceptions 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. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce
OWLCREEK BRIDGE" ." ABP Journal. 1.1 (2005): n. page. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Bierce, Ambrose “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The Norton Introduction to
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).