Examples Of Realism In An Occurrence At Owl Creek

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The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” by Ambrose Bierce, is a prime example of realism demonstrated in his portrayal of the main character, “A man [Peyton Farquhar] stood upon a railroad bridge...looking down into the swift water twenty feet below.,” (Bierce 468) desperately wanting his own reality. Realism is the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. The author lays out the setting which is taking place in Alabama, and the time is in the Civil War. Peyton is facing his consequence of being hung for trying to destroy one of the bridges the Union needs access to. As the sergeant stepped off the plank Peyton fell straight through the bridge meeting his, in his mind, death. “Then …show more content…

“The sudden arrest of his motion, the abrasion of one of his hands on the gravel, restored him.” (Bierce 472), he was joyous with fact that he was fortunate enough to not get caught. By washing ashore he never felt more alive or lucky he could now return to his family which he desperately wanted. As he makes his escape into the woods he eventually finds his house and “...sees a flutter of female garments; his wife, looking fresh and cool and sweet, steps down from the veranda to meet him.” (Bierce 473) he ran with all his might to embrace his perfect and always beautiful wife. Before he could kiss his wife “...he feels a stunning blow upon the back of his neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon…” (Bierce 473) Peyton Farquhar is dead. Bierce as a realist brought the readers to a fantasy world which is deceptively similar to the real world, and shows that in reality our dreams and hopes won’t run the course we expect them to. Realism is accepting the real situation and being ready to deal with it

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